Being In Love Is Never Easy
by Sailorjj07
Summary: Part Two of "Being in love is not easy". Natalie is finally getting over Dex's death, and it seems Tory might actually like her back! Read and find out.
1. A Relationship Begins

Being in love is never easy!

By: Sailorjj07

1. A Relationship Begins

A/n: **HI EVERYBODY!** It's me again. And guess what! I come bearing gifts! **THIS IS PART TWO! **"Being in love is not easy" was a very fun fic to write, but this one will be longer and better with lots of new and exciting romance! Plus more! **ON WITH THE FIC!**

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"I've never had so much fun in my life!" Natalie cried, plopping down on her bed. She laid her head down on her pillow and watched Nadalia giggle.

"Neither have I." Nadalia sat on the floor from her side of the computer. She was dead tired, but happy.

"And I saw Iceman flirting with you. You're a very sneaky little navi, you know that?"

"I learned it from the best. I wasn't the only one flirting and you know it." Nadalia said, smirking at Natalie. Natalie returned the smirk with one of her own.

"I'm gonna get him to like me." Natalie said, the smirk not leaving her face.

"And I'll do the same for my cute little Iceman. I don't think I could bear it if he hated me!" Nadalia fell over dramatically and Natalie laughed at her.

"You don't like my acting?"

"Of course I don't. It's horrible!" Natalie said, putting on her nightgown and sliding under the blankets. She nodded at Nadalia, who turned made the lights cut off.

"You're just mad cause you can't act." Nadalia said, to Natalie's sleeping form. The smile on her face didn't fade, as she herself laid down in bed to sleep.

**Next Morning at 7:00 A.M.**

"Bye Mom!" Natalie waved good bye to her mother, hopped on her bike and rode off. She was in a hurry to catch up with Tory, Maylu, and Yai. She had seen them walking by her house and rushed to get out so she could catch up. In mere seconds she saw them, taking their time to walk to school.

"Wait up!" Natalie called, speeding up. When she caught up with them, she had to press on her brakes to keep from running over them.

"Hi Natalie..." Maylu said, trying to hold back laughter. She knew exactly why Natalie had rushed to catch up with them and he was the person Natalie would have ran over.

"Hi Maylu! And Yai!" Natalie said, smiling at the two. When she turned to Tory, her smile changed to her biggest and best.

"Hi Tory. How are you this morning?" Natalie asked the smile still on her face. Tory felt a blush rising in his cheeks and quickly tried to push it down. He smiled back and Natalie nearly fell over at how quickly her breath was taken from her. It was the first time Tory had smiled at her like that.

"I'm fine, Natalie. How are you?"

"I'm wonderful." Natalie replied, still smiling. Tory smiled back again before he noticed Maylu and Yai.

"How come you didn't wait on Lan, Maylu?" Tory asked, getting back on his scooter. He pushed off the ground with his foot and watched as Natalie matched paces with him on her bike.

"He was taking to long to get up. I had Megaman wake him, but he fell asleep in the shower. The only reason why he woke up there was because he started to get water in his nose." Maylu said, shaking her head. Lan would never change. Well with his sleeping habits anyway.

"That's so much like Lan. I think maybe he needs an earlier bed time." Yai said, setting a pace with Maylu. She elbowed Maylu, indicating the couple in front of them. They kept glancing at one another out of the corner of their eyes.

"I think somebody has a crush on somebody else..." Yai whispered to Maylu. She nodded and continued to watch the two. 

"Natalie, did you have fun yesterday?" Tory asked, not noticing the quiet surrounding them.

"Yeah, I did. I haven't had so much fun in a long time." Natalie replied, not noticing the quiet either.

"Maybe you should hang out with us more often." He had wanted to say "me" instead of "us", but that was **WAY **to forward. (In his opinion.)

"I think I will. You guys have such a close friendship and if you'll let me, I'd love to be apart of it."

"You don't have to ask me. I already accept you. We all do. Right, Maylu?"

He waited for a reply, but was met with silence.

"Maylu?" Natalie said, looking around. Maylu and Yai were nowhere to be seen.

"I didn't hear them go." Tory looked around as well, not seeing Maylu or Yai in his general area.

"Neither did I. Oh well. They won't be late to school." Natalie said, shrugging. So Natalie and Tory walked (more like rode) to school together.

**At The School**

"It took you two forever to realize we were gone!" Yai cried, sitting at her desk. She giggled and smiled at the couple.

"We didn't even notice." Natalie said, sitting in her desk in front of Yai. Maylu nodded from her desk that she shared with Lan. He still wasn't there, but she wasn't worried. He'd make it. He always did.

"I can tell." Yai said, winking at Tory. He didn't know how he was supposed to take it, but he laughed anyway, just to make her happy. Tory sat at a desk with Yai and directly behind Natalie. Natalie turned around in her chair and she talked with Tory until Ms. Mari came in.

"Is everyone here?"

Lan ran into the room and plopped down in his desk, right before the bell rang for class to start.

"Good Morning, Lan. Barely missing the bell, as usual."

"Sorry ma'am."

"You're forgiven." Ms. Mari put a big smile on her face and walked up to the board. She wrote down a single word and waited until the class thought about it. "Now what do you think we are going to do today that has to do with this word."

Maylu raised her hand, "Learn about what they are?"

"Yes and no. Today, we are going to learn what being a parent is all about. I know I shouldn't be teaching you this so early, but with all these new couples forming all the time, I think you should all learn."

"Will there be any homework?" Asked a student from the back of the class.

"Once again, yes and no. Your homework is your project. Your project is two weeks long."

"Two weeks!" Another kid in the back asked. Ms. Mari nodded, "Yes, two weeks. And I can tell you, it won't be easy. But I believe you all are very capable of completing this project."

"But why, Ms. Mari?" Chaud asked, trying to understand the woman. Chaud had transferred schools when he and Yai started dating. So far, he wasn't regretting his decision.

"Because Chaud. What would happen if you found a baby in a basket on you parent's doorstep asking them to take care of it?"

"I'd give it to my dad."

"But what if she was too busy to take care of it and you had nothing to do? These are the type of situations that this two week session is over and many other things."

"Are we gonna learn how baby's are made?" A girl in the front row asked.

"Yes. We are going to watch education tapes. And we'll also learn lots of other things as well."

**At the end of school**

"And don't forget! We have a field trip tomorrow!" Ms. Mari called out, as the bell rang. The entire class filed out and Maylu gave a sigh of relief.

"I've never heard so many disgusting things in my life." Natalie said, trying to get the images out of her head.

"I think it's very interesting!" Maylu replied, laughing at the looks on everyone's faces.

"WHAT!" The entire group cried, receiving strange looks from a couple of people around them.

"I'm serious! I think it's a complete and totally natural process. But then again, my wanting to be a nurse when I grow up, stuff like this doesn't disturb me at all." Maylu kept walking, while the entire group stopped and stared at her for a moment. They all shook their heads at the same time and then ran to catch up with her.

**At 4:30 P.M.**

"Maylu, phone call!" Roll said, from Maylu's computer. Maylu was sitting in front of the computer doing homework, but when Roll had told her she had a call, she looked up.

"Bring it through."

"Ok." Maylu watched as Natalie's face showed up on her computer screen.

"Hey Nat! What's up?"

"Maylu, I need you help!"

Maylu almost got worried, but the look on Natalie's face told her not to, "With what? Is everything ok?"

"No, it's not! I need to impress Tory! Maylu, I want him to like me! I want him to ask me out!"

"Well, you know Nat, you can always be yourself. He seems to like you very much without you trying to impress him or anything."

"Maylu, that never works! If I be myself that means he'll see all the things wrong with me!"

"Nat, he will not have any problems with the real you. But if you really want my help that bad I can give you a little help."

"Tell me everything you know! Please!" Maylu laughed, Natalie sounded so desperate.

**At 5:00 P.M.**

"That's all?" Natalie asked, knowing she had actually gotten a lot of information.

"Yes, that's all. If you wear his favorite color a couple of times, he's bound to notice no matter what."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for all you help, Maylu."

"Your welcome. But please, promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"DO NOT TRY TO CHANGE YOURSELF FOR TORY. You got that?"

"Yes, Nurse Maylu. If course."

"Good. See ya, Nat."

"Bye!"

Maylu put her finished homework in her backpack and looked up as the computer beeped again. "Who is it this time, Roll?"

"It's an e-mail from, Lan. It says: Come outside as soon as you get this e-mail. I have something to tell you."

"I wonder what he has to tell me? You ready, Roll?"

"Let's go." Maylu grabbed her PET and ran outside.

**Outside**

"Maylu!" Lan said, making Maylu giggle. It never surprised her how much Lan could miss her in one day. "I miss you."

"I can tell." She kissed his cheek, receiving a blush from him. "So what did you want to tell me?"

"I forgot..."

"Lan!"

"I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Anyway, you'll never guess who I just got a call from."

"Natalie?"

"No, her male counterpart."

"Tory called you about Natalie!" Maylu said, sitting down on Lan's porch. Lan sat down beside her and put his arm around her waist.

"Exactly. And you know what he asked me?"

"For info about Nat?"

"Right again. It's like you reading my mind. Are we that much in love with each other?"

"Lan, that's not the reason why I know what happened. Even though I do love you very much."

"Then how-?"

"I just got off the phone with Nat, before you e-mailed me."

"You're kidding."

"Nope. And she wanted all the info she could get on Tory. It's crazy, how those two are acting."

"That just means we have a new mission." Lan said, with a grin.

"And what's that?" Maylu replied, knowing what he was thinking.

"To get Tory and Natalie together."

"That would be so much fun!" Maylu cried, grinning as well.

"I know." Lan smiled and kissed Maylu getting a very large smile out of her and making sure they were in this new mission together.

End Chapter 1


	2. The Field Trip

Being In Love Is Never Easy!

By: Sailorjj07

2. The Field Trip

A/n: I've updated for your reading pleasure! Oh, by the way! I realized I made a mistake with the ages in my other fic, so let me give them out again. I thought Tory was younger then everyone, but I was wrong. So here are the ages:

**Ages:**

Yai, Maylu, and Natalie: 12

Chaud, Lan, and Tory: 13

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

The bell rung for class to start and Ms. Mari came in with a smile on her face, "Good morning, class!"

"Good morning, Ms. Mari!" Came the reply from her entire class. Ms. Mari started to take the roll and class was excitedly answering to the call of their names. Five minutes later they were lining up to leave.

"Everyone ready to go?" A cheer was her only reply. She opened the door and then entire class walked to the subway station.

"Are we all sitting together?" Lan asked, looking around his group of friends. They nodded and the entire group plus their class got on the subway to the Beach area, where the hospital was.

**Outside of the Hospital**

"I'm gonna have to ask all of you to be very quiet when you go in. A nurse will meet us in the lobby and we'll go from there. Okay?"

"Yes ma'am." The class chorused together. They all walked in where a nurse with blonde hair and bright green eyes was waiting for them.

"So the junior high class is here? Hi everyone, I'm Sunny and I'm gonna be your nurse guide today. Does anyone know what you're going to see today?"

Her question was met with silence and she smiled.

"You guys get to see all the brand new babies of Dentech City. I'm going to have to ask that you all be very quiet so you don't frighten them. And maybe if the children's parents say it's ok, you can hold them."

"Everybody ready?" Sunny asked, grinning.

"I believe they are." Ms. Mari said, and the nurse started the trek to the nursery. The started out on the first floor, going left to the stair well. They climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, and walked to the nursery windows.

"The babies are kept here after they're born for monitoring. That way if they have any problems, we can fix them and make sure they don't happen again."

"Why are the babies color coated?" Asked a boy who noticed the pink and blue hats and blankets.

"They're like that because we need to know wither their boys or girls."

"Why do you need to know that?"

"Because how can we fix a baby girl problem if it's a baby boy that we're giving the medicine to?"

"Oh......." The entire class saw such logic in her statement that they understood it completely. They all lined up in front of the windows, looking at the small wiggling bundles.

"Awwwwwwwwww!!! Lan, I want a baby girl!!" Maylu cried, watching a little baby in pink wiggle. Lan rolled his eyes, but watched the baby girl as well. The baby was cooing and sucking on her fingers, while Lan and Maylu watched her.

"Maybe you can have one....Later. Much much later." Lan told her, receiving a smile from her.

"YAY!" Maylu hugged her boyfriend; nearly making him hit the glass. The movement caught the baby's eyes and she tried to roll over to look. Maylu stopped hugging Lan as soon as she saw it and 'awwwwed'. Yai and Chaud were looking at a baby boy with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. He had a baby frown on his face (if that's what you call it when new born babies aren't smiling. Or a tough looking baby), and it was adorable to Yai.

"Chaud, look at this one." Yai said, pointing at the little baby in front of her. Chaud looked at the baby and nodded, seeing how tough the little baby would be when he grew up.

"I see you've noticed some of the children here. That baby girl is Sicily and the little boy is Max." Sunny told the class, smiling at the class she was guiding. They class got to watch the babies for five minutes before Sunny led them away.

"This is a room where a baby is delivered. We have several of them here and some deliveries are very loud. Here is where the mother lays until it's time for the baby to come. We have a movie for you guys to watch when you get back to school."

"Will it be gross?" Asked a boy standing closest to Sunny.

"Wanna know the truth? Yes, it will. Live birth has so many juices and liquids involved...it's kinda sicking the first time. I warn those with weak stomachs to cover there eyes when the birth begins. It might help if you don't listen very well either." The looks on the faces of the 12-14 year olds was hilarious. Sunny, who couldn't contain it anymore, burst into laughter which triggered Ms. Mari's laughter as well. The class looked between the two women and sighed, not understanding the joke.

"Anyway, let's go see the babies up close and personal." Sunny led the class to the nursery door and stopped. "I'm going to have to ask that you be very quiet. The babies aren't used to loud noises yet, nor are they ready to experience it." Everyone nodded and Yai, Natalie, and Maylu took off into the room as quietly as they could.

"I want to hold this one, Sunny." Yai said, whispering as loudly as she could, pointing at the baby boy with blue eyes and brown hair. Sunny nodded and picked up the baby carefully, motioning for Yai to sit down in the chair beside his hospital crib. Yai sat and held her arms out. When the baby's light weight was placed in her arms, Yai smiled brightly.

"He's so beautiful." Yai whispered. Chaud stood behind her watching her hold the baby. He stared down into the little boy's face and watch as it curved into a little half smile. "I can already tell he's gonna be an arrogant little boy. Just like you, Chaud."

"I'm not arrogant"

"Yes, you are, honey. Hate to break it to ya." Yai giggled at the look on Chaud's face and then she grinned, "Do you wanna hold him?"

"No."

"Chaud...Please?"

"No."

"You're afraid aren't you?"

"I am not afraid of a baby."

"Obviously you are or you'd hold him."

"Whatever. Give the runt here." Chaud held out his arms and Yai stood up and placed him in Chaud's arms. "Support his head. He's not old enough to hold it up on his own yet." Chaud did as she asked and Yai watched as the baby moved slightly and Chaud's eyes widened.

"Don't worry, he's just trying to figure out where the heat coming from. He'll move a little more and get a little more comfortable and then he'll go to sleep." Yai grinned as Chaud watched the baby. As Yai predicted, he moved a little more and then he went to sleep.

"You were right."

"I know."

"Now who's being arrogant?" Yai giggled quietly and then turned back to watching the baby. On another side of the room Natalie and Tory were trying to decide which baby to hold. They decided on a baby girl with brown hair and purple eyes. Natalie sat in a chair, touching the baby's cheeks with her fingers.

"She's so cute and soft. I wish I could take her home with me." Natalie said, watching the tiny hand grip her index finger. Tory watched the baby and then her, smiling to himself.

"You're going to be a great mom, Nat. I can tell by the way you hold her."

"You think so?" Natalie looked at the baby, but looked up when Tory spoke again.

"Her eyes are the same color as yours." Tory told her, looking between Natalie's eyes and the baby's. They're eyes caught and Natalie found her self lost in a sea of dark brown, but the baby decided to move and the moment was lost. She shifted her arms and looked back down; looking at the baby whose eyes looked much like her own.

"Her eyes will be a deeper purple than mine."

"Deeper?" Tory questioned, not quite understanding.

"The purple of my eyes are lighter then what her's are going to be. The boys are gonna love her." Natalie replied, smiling at the little girl in her arms. Then she looked up at Tory,"Wanna hold her?"

"Ok." Tory held out his arms and Natalie stood up and placed her in them. The baby wiggled a little, but was still again soon after.

"Have you ever held a baby before, Tory?"

"No."

"Are you sure? It's like you knew exactly what to do." Natalie asked, watching the baby get comfortable in his arms quickly.

"I'm sure." Tory smiled at Natalie, then looked back down at the baby girl he held in his arms. The baby moved and he just watched shifting his arms to make the baby more comfortable.

"Wow. Tory, you're going to be a great dad." Natalie said, watching him and the baby.

"That means a lot, coming from you." Tory looked up and smiled at her, their eyes meeting again. No words were exchanged, but when they finally looked away from each other, a new bond was formed between them.

Lan and Maylu were holding the little baby that they had seen from the window, a chubby, round little thing with pink hair and brown eyes. She wiggled around in Lan's arms, making him panic.

"Lan, you have to stay calm. If you're not calm she won't be either." Maylu said, trying to get Lan to calm down. He took a deep breath and made himself relax.

"There you go. Now doesn't that feel much lighter on your arms?" Lan nodded and sat in the chair. He was watching the little baby until she started wiggling again. Suddenly her face went into a frown and in an instant the baby started to cry.

"Maylu! What do I do?" Lan cried, panic written all over his face. The entire class looked up at him, wondering why the baby was crying.

"Give her here." Maylu took the baby from Lan and rocked her, shushing her gently. Although her crying got a little quieter, she still continued to cry. Then in a wave all the babies in the nursery started to cry and it was as if all the babies were upset.

"This your fault, Lan." Chaud said, watching Yai rock the baby, trying to get him to hush.

"No, it's no ones fault. The babies are hungry is all. Are you guys ready to feed them?" Sunny warm bottles from its spot where it was warming in a pot of hot water. She checked and made sure they were all at the right temperature before handing them out to the class.

"So our baby's name is Anastasia." Tory said, reading the name on the bottle. Natalie nodded and handed the bottle to Tory.

"Do you know how to feed her?"

"No."

"All you have to do is put the bottle in her mouth. But after about three seconds, you have to take it out of her mouth so she can breathe. Then you can put it back in. And this process continues to the bottle is empty." Natalie said, watching Tory lower the bottle into the baby's mouth.

"I think I can do it."

"Good. Maylu, how are you over there?"

"The baby scared Lan cause she started crying. Other than that, she's fine. Lan, don't hold the bottle like that! You'll choke her!" Maylu moved his hand the way it was supposed to be and sighed.

"Sorry Maylu."

"It's ok."

"You know what? I haven't heard from Megaman since we got here." Lan said, rocking the baby slightly.

"That's cause they had their own field trip." Yai replied, walking over with Chaud and Max (the baby) behind her.

"Navis can have kids?" Lan and Maylu asked together.

"Yes and no. They can't create them like we do, but they can ask for one and it's programmed to grow up to a certain age. Then it'll stop growing." Chaud said, taking the bottle out of Max's mouth. He breathed in air and then Chaud put it back in his mouth.

"Wow. That's cool."

"Yup, so the navis are getting lessons on teaching the growing baby navis. Let's watch and see what's going on."

**In The Cyber World**

"Since your NetOps are learning about babies, you navis will too." Said a navi in a white nurse's uniform. She had bright blonde hair, just like Sunny.

"My name is Sunshine and I am Sunny's navi. I'm going to tell you how the babies are 'born' and then we'll go straight into the nursery to see them. Follow me." The navi led the class of navis to a cyber nursery a lot like the one where the NetOps were, but without the delivery rooms.

"There's the nursery right there. We raise the baby navis a certain amount of time, putting in basic programming and the ability to grow up. Then when that time is up, we send them to the navi and NetOp that order it, and let them raise it how they wish. I know several navi babies that are grown up and fighting in Net Battles. Anyway, after the first two days of putting in basic programming such as breathing, movement, making noises, looking at things, etc; we give them a random personality on the third day and input it on the fourth. Then they are sent out. Sound easy enough?" The group nodded and Sunshine gave a big bright smile. "Let's go see some navi babies then." She opened the door to the room and let the navis walk around.

"Look Nadalia, isn't she the cutest thing?" Roll said, looking at a baby girl with bright green eyes and brown hair. Roll picked her up and grinned at her, watching her move. "It must be your second or third day here, little one."

"Yes, after the first day of programming they're moved in here." Sunshine told Roll, smiling at the baby in her arms. Nadalia went to the crib next to Roll's and saw a little baby in yellow with red hair and golden eyes.

"Wow. This baby is beautiful." She picked up the little boy and walked over to Roll. "Look at this one." Roll looked at the little boy and almost squealed at his cuteness.

"I love the color of his eyes." Roll grinned at Nadalia and sat down in a chair.

"I do too." Nadalia sat down next to her and the two watched as Megaman and Iceman walked over, each with a baby in their arms.

"Well I like this one. He looks a little like Roll." Megaman said, showing them the blonde haired, green eyed baby in his arms. The little boy wiggled at being so close to a bunch of navis and Megaman got a chair and sat next to Roll.

"Nadalia, what do you think about this one?" Iceman showed her and Roll the baby boy he was holding. The boy had light blue hair and ice blue eyes.

"He's gorgeous. I think he's almost as pretty as the baby I'm holding." Nadalia replied, nodding in approval. Iceman seemed proud of his pick and watched the baby move in his arms.

**In The Real World**

"I think we better put Max back before I get attached to him." Yai said, putting Max back in his crib. Maylu nodded and put Sicily back, doing the same. When Natalie saw what they were doing, she put Anastasia back as well.

"Bye little one." Natalie said, waving at the baby. Tory nodded at the baby and walked out; making sure Natalie was in front of him before he left.

"We don't want you trying to take someone else's baby, now do we?"

"Not funny, Tory."

"I think it was." They walked to where Lan, Chaud, Yai and Maylu were gathered in a circle around Maylu's PET.

"Roll, you can't keep that baby." Maylu said, almost laughing at her navi.

"But I want to."

"Roll, no."

"Please?!"

"No."

"Well Nadalia trying to keep her's too. How come she can keep her's and I can't keep mine?" Roll said, crossing her arms and pouting. They were still and the nursery and Roll refused to leave.

"Roll, she can't keep her's either." Natalie told her, eyeing her navi with a look that said 'you know you can't.' Nadalia sighed and put the baby back.

"Let's go, Iceman, before I change my mind." The two navis walked out together leaving Roll and Megaman by themselves.

"Maylu, please?!"

"No."

"Megaman..." Roll said, turning to him with a pleading look. He sighed and then put his arms around her, putting her back to his chest.

"Roll...You know you can't keep that baby."

"Why not?"

"Cause it's not yours."

"Then I won't leave until I get one."

"Oh, yes you will."

"No, I won't." Roll crossed her arms, pouting. Megaman rolled his eyes and then picked Roll up. He threw her over his shoulder holding her firmly in place.

"I hate to do this to you, Roll. But we have to go back to school." Megaman walked out of the nursery, with Roll pounding on his back and screaming to be let go.

End Chapter 2


	3. The Project, Part 1

Being in Love Is Never Easy

By: Sailorjj07

3. The Project, Part 1

A/n: I've updated!! And I learned something new! In french the words "chaud" means hot and the word "froid" means cold. Ever wonder why Chaud's name is chaud? Cause he's hot! And Tory's last name, Froid, is that way because of Iceman. Ice is cold, hence the last name Froid. Neat, isn't it? Now that I've given you your weekly dose of facts on with the fic!!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"Time to go back to school, everyone!" Ms. Mari said, watching the lined up class in front of her. "Everyone say thank you to Ms. Sunny."

"Thank you, Sunny!" Then entire class cried together, receiving looks from the other nurses in the area. She smiled and waved as the class left the hospital. They walked to the subway and the entire class got on.

"I wonder what we're going to do now?" Maylu asked, turning from the window. Lan sat beside her with his arm around her, looked at her curiously.

"I do too." Natalie added, scooting a little closer to Tory, hoping he didn't notice.

Tory did notice though, and turned to look at her, "Nat, what's the matter?"

The subway made a weird screeching noise and Natalie jumped, and then turned to face Tory,"N-nothing."

"Nat," He whispered, leaning closer to her so she could hear him, "Are you afraid of the subway?"

"N-no." The subway made another weird noise and Natalie grabbed the pole beside her, closing her eyes.

Tory hid a smile, "Yes, you are. You just jumped from that noise."

"I did not."

"Natalie, would you feel better if I held your hand?" Natalie nodded almost as soon as Tory asked the question, grabbing his hand. The subway train made another noise and she squeezed his hand tighter. Tory smiled and laced their fingers, grinning when Natalie blushed.

"Would you look at that, Lan? All on their own too." Maylu whispered, watching her two friends.

Lan nodded and then grinned at her, "Maybe they won't need our help after all."

"Maybe not."

**At School**

Ms. Mari's junior high class arrived at school, an hour before it was time to go home. But as soon as everyone was seated, Ms. Mari told them she had an announcement to make.

"I'm assigning you all a project."

The class groaned, but let her continue.

"It will be very fun, I promise. You project is to take care of a baby for three weeks. I'm choosing partners and I know, you'll all like them very much. I'll be giving you your babies, requirements, and daily assignments tomorrow. Right now, I want you to meet with you partner and discuss a baby name, how you want the baby to look, and what gender you want your baby to be. By the end of the day, all of you will have babies of your choice." The class nodded excitedly and Ms. Mari took out some papers from her desk.

"Ok! The partners are: Lan Hikari and Maylu Sakurai."

"YES!" Lan cried, grinning at his happy girlfriend. She grinned back and blushed at the giggles from the other girls in the class room.

"Yai Ayanokouji and Chaud Blaze."

"That's good." Yai said, with a sigh of relief. She knew if Ms. Mari put her with anyone else, Chaud will kill him.

Ms. Mari named off a bunch of other people, then,"....Natalie Yankonojii and Tory Froid." Natalie grinned, and watched Tory walk over to her desk. He sat down next to her and smiled brightly.

"So I guess we should start calling you Natalie Froid, huh?" Maylu said, turning around to face the two. Natalie blushed bright red and looked down at her PET to find her navi laughing at her as well.

"Yup." Tory answered, smiling proudly and making Natalie and Maylu both laugh. Maylu turned around to keep talking to Lan and Tory grinned at Natalie, facing her. "So what should we name our baby?"

"Anastasia." Natalie said, grinning back.

"Like the one we saw today?"

"Yeah. I think I like that name."

"Well then the name and gender is decided." Tory said, thoughtfully. Natalie nodded and then thought of how the baby should look.

"Tory, you decide how she looks."

Tory nodded and his look changed to one of thoughtfulness, "Just like you."

Natalie blushed brightly, "Just like me? I'm not that pretty you know."

"Who told you that?"

"No one."

"Well then I hope you don't think that way about yourself. You're the most beautiful person I know, so somebody must have told you otherwise." Natalie smiled at Tory and he smiled back, trying his hardest not to be too bold.

"Well I think she should have...light brown hair. Like you."

"Then she really will look just like Anastasia."

"Except Anastasia has dark brown hair and her's is really curly." Natalie said, smirking. Tory laughed at her and they walked up to Ms. Mari together.

**At 3:30 p.m.**

"I'll see you guys later!" Natalie said, waving at Maylu, Yai, Lan, and Chaud.

Tory walked slowly up to her, blushing, but smiling all the same, "Nat, I'm walking you home."

"Really?! I mean.....really? That's really nice of you, Tory. Thanks." Natalie said, blushing as well.

"Your welcome."

They started to walk in silence when Iceman broke it, "Why aren't you two talking? Geez, you'd think the way Nadalia talks so much, her operator would be just as talkative!"

Tory took his PET out of its case and glared at his navi,"Iceman..."

"I heard that! Natalie, hook me up. I'm about to make me some ice cream!" Nadalia cried, from Natalie's PET. Natalie grinned and hooked the PETs together. "Come here, Iceboy!"

The two NetOps watched as Nadalia tackled Iceman to the ground and started to tickle him. Iceman's already red cheeks turned redder and he started to laugh loudly, making the two Ops laugh at them.

"Well, we know those two get along really well."

"Lia, get off!" Iceman cried, making the taller navi giggle and get off. Nadalia helped him up and then sat on the ground of Tory's PET.

"I like the new nickname, Iceman." Nadalia said, grinning at him.

"Thank you, I made it up myself." Iceman replied, proudly. Nadalia blushed, and then looked up at Tory. "You should really be a little bolder with Nat. She'll love you for it."

"I'm not very good at that, Nadalia." Tory whispered back to her, trying not to let Natalie hear him.

"Well get good at it. At least with Natalie."

"I'll try." Tory looked up then and with a face of determination, turned to Natalie, "I think I'm gonna start calling you Mrs. Froid from now on." He smirked at Natalie, who blushed a very bright red and did not turn to face him.

"I-I'd like that alot, Tory." Natalie said, quietly. She was surprised by the comment, but decided if he was gonna start calling her by his last name, she might as well tell him she liked it. That way he'd call her by his last name often.

Tory smirk turned into a very big grin at Natalie's quiet confession, "Really?"

Natalie smiled back, "Yes, I would. But you can only call me that on one condition."

"And what's that?"

"You can only say it when we're together. When it's just me and you."

"I can't say it in front of Iceman and Nadalia?"

"Oh yeah! You can say it in front of them too. But no one else. 'Kay?"

"Deal."

Natalie looked up, realizing they had reached her house. She and Tory walked up to the porch together and stopped at the front door, "Thanks for walking me home, Tory."

"I had fun doing it."

"Good. See you tomorrow?"

"Yup." They looked at each other, as if at a loss on what to say.

"Tory..."

"Hmmm?"

"Thanks. Alot." Natalie stepped forward and kissed him on his cheek, blushing. She almost burst into laughter at the look on his face when she moved away, smiling and going inside her house.

"Your welcome." Tory whispered to himself, walking away from her front yard.

**Later**

"I KISSED HIM, MAYLU! I KISSED HIM!!" Natalie cried, into her phone, jumping on her bed. She plopped down on her bed with Nadalia, who was on the computer desktop, watching her NetOp and best friend, jump around in joy.

"It was on the cheek, Nat, don't forget to tell her that." Nadalia said, rolling her eyes.

"I don't have to tell her where it was! The only thing that matters is that I kissed him!" Natalie cried, glaring at her navi.

"So where did you kiss him?" Maylu asked, twisting the phone cord around her finger.

"On the cheek, but that doesn't matter."

"You know you wanted to kiss him somewhere else."

"I kissed something on his face, right? So why does the rest matter?"

"Because it does and you know it."

"Oh whatever, Maylu. Don't rain on my parade, cause guess what? I'm not canceling it."

"Nat, I don't know who's crazier, you or Lan."

"Lan, of course. I'm just mildly crazy." Natalie said, laughing. Maylu laughed and then told her she had to go. "See you, Maylu!"

"Bye Nat."

**With Tory**

"Lan, she kissed me." Tory said, quietly. Lan burst into laughter, making Tory glare at the phone. "What's so funny about that?"

"You shouldn't sound so sad, Tory! If your anything like me, then you'd be happier than when Iceman got that new attack."

"I am happy, but...what do you mean if I'm anything like you?"

"You're a male right?!"

"Yeah, and?"

"That means we have something in common, Tory and that's why I think you should be happy. When Maylu and I first kissed I thought I was going to burst with happiness." Lan said, watching Megaman walk around the computer screen. He was looking for something, but Lan wasn't sure what it was.

"I am really happy."

"I can tell by the tone of your voice."

"Lan! You're not helping!"

"I'm supposed to be helping?" Lan asked, still watching Megaman.

"YES!"

"Oh. Whoops." Lan replied, laughing. Megaman looked at him and rolled his eyes, then went back to looking for what he was looking for.

"Lan, you're hopeless."

"You're just as hopeless as I am. You care for Nat and you know it."

"I know and that's the problem..." Tory sat in a chair and sighed loudly, making Iceman look at him. Iceman watched Tory for a couple of seconds, then rolled his eyes and went about his business.

"Why is that a problem?"

"How am I gonna tell her? Yai isn't planning on having another co-ed sleepover anytime soon."

"Well...how about this project? You know the one we're doing in class."

"What about it?"

"You could use it as a way to get closer to her. Show Natalie how kind and caring and sweet and loving you are and she'll decide to stay with you forever." Lan grinned at his own idea. He never knew he could be so devious.

"You know what, Lan? That might actually work! Thanks!"

"You're very welcome, Tory. I gotta go now though, cause Mega needs help looking for something."

"See ya, Lan!"

"Bye Tory."

**The Next Day**

Everyone was waiting for Ms. Mari to get into the class. They were sitting in a new seating chart with their "spouses" and the entire class was ready to work. When Ms. Mari finally came in, she smiled and set her things down on the desk.

"Good morning, class! I have your babies!" The door opened and people began to come in with cart after cart of babies. They were in little baby beds like the ones in the hospital and they were color coated as well. The babies looked like real babies and they were making noises and breathing like real ones too.

"These babies are made by navi technology, but are used in the real world. They breathe, they cry, they blink, they giggle, they do need to be fed, and they do use the bathroom. Both ways." After all of the babies were rolled in the people left the room only to come back with baby blankets, diapers, diaper bags, bottles, strollers, and carriers. The class was amazed by all of the things that were required for a baby. Ms. Mari waved at the people as they left and then she turned to the class, who was watching the robot babies move.

"They also can get hot and cold. So I warn that you make good use of the things given to you. In a real household all of these things would have to be bought, but I will provide you with these things," Ms. Mari picked up a baby boy with red hair. The mechanical baby moved in response to her touch, but soon stilled himself. "These babies respond to touch, sound, and smell. They don't taste their food, but they do know they are being fed. For today, you daily assignment is to create a budget. You all have two bedroom apartments and only one of you has a job. While you're working on that, I'll call each of you up by partners to get your babies." Ms. Mari walked back to her desk and took some papers out,"Let's get to work!"

End Chapter 3


	4. The Project, Part 2

Being in love is never easy!

By: Sailorjj07

4. The Project, Part 2

A/n: OH MY GOSH! I haven't updated in such a long time! I'm really sorry guys! REALLY REALLY SORRY! Anywho, I'm gonna try to update as frequently as possible before school lets out for summer break. Okay? THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"So what exactly are we going to do for our budget, Tory?" Natalie asked, looking over the papers that she and her partner had received. Their was a sheet with jobs on it, a sheet with example budgets and a sheet that stated all the requirements for the project. Natalie began to read the requirements sheet and gaped at the bold letters at the bottom of the page.

"Tory...read this..." Tory glanced at Natalie's face, wondering why she looked so surprised.

"'A child is raised with both of their parents near them. For this project you are required to stay with your partner for a week. The two of you will take turns staying at one another's house and by the end of the month both of you will have lived at each other's house for two weeks.' We have to live together?" Tory asked, gaping at the paper as well. Natalie nodded slowly and gently took the paper back, re-reading it.

"So who's house are we staying at first?" Tory asked, with a smile. He began to fill out the two information sheets he had gotten, putting his name on top of one and Natalie's on the others.

"Your fine with this?"

"Yeah. It means I get to spend more time with my newest friend, right?"

Natalie smiled and nodded, "We can think of it as a sleepover for a month."

"Exactly. Can you put your mom and dad's name right here? You never told them to me." Tory handed Natalie the pen and she wrote down her parent's names then, handed the paper back to Tory.

"Natalie! Isn't that funny? Lan and I get to stay at each other's houses, but we live right next door to each other!" Maylu giggled at the realization of what the paper was asking of them.

"Well at least we don't have to go all over the place, like those two do. Tory lives about five blocks away from Natalie." Lan said, with a smile on his face, looking down at the baby in his arms. He and Maylu's baby girl had soft pink hair and chocolate brown eyes. They had decided to name her Sakura.

This was news to Natalie. She hadn't known how far Tory had lived from her. _'He had to walk five blocks after he took me home? I could've gotten him in trouble. I'll have to make it up to him!'_

"Natalie and Tory, please come get Anastasia." Ms. Mari called over her class and the two stood up and walked to Ms. Mari's desk together. She handed Tory the baby and gave Natalie all the things that they needed and a stroller. "Good luck, you two."

"Thank you, Ms. Mari." They said together and then went back to their desk. As soon as they sat down, Anastasia began to giggle.

"Tory, what are you doing to her?" Natalie asked, with a smile.

"Nothing." Tory replied, poking the baby's cheek softly again. Anastasia giggled and reached out to grab Tory's finger.

"They're so life-like."

"I know. It's almost scary." Tory looked up at Natalie and smiled, "But she's ours so we have to take care of her like she's real."

"Right." Natalie nodded, and then sat down in her chair, filling out some more of the papers. "Tory, do you want to work, or am I working?"

"I'll let you pick." Tory held the baby with one hand and filled out some more of the information sheets.

"I think you're just trying to get out of deciding."

"Yup. So you can pick."

"Well I...want to be a chef when I get older."

"Is that on the list?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess you work."

"You don't mind?"

"Why would I? I'd be happy to stay at home with Anastasia." Tory smiled and put his pen down, turning to Natalie. She blushed at the way he was looking at her, turning quickly to fill out the budget plan.

"Okay, how does this look?" Natalie handed him the paper, and watched as he read over it.

"It looks good to me."

"Okay. And how are we going to decide who stays where first?"

Tory handed Anastasia to Natalie and took the calendar paper from their stack, "Well let's see...If you want, we can stay at my house first. My parents shouldn't mind, even if it is sort of last minute. And then next week we can stay at your house."

"And then the week after go back to yours, right?"

"That's what I was thinking."

"I like that idea. And all I have to do is go get my things for the week."

"Which there is only four days left of."

"Exactly."

A little bell began to go off and the rest of the class quieted down, along with Tory and Natalie.

"Okay, class. I can't allow you to work on this project all day. I will give you ten more minutes to fill out all the forms and then we have to move onto something else. We still have to watch that movie on live birth."

A series of groans rang through out the class, but they hurriedly finished their paperwork.

**Twenty Minutes Later**

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get the screen up and running, who'd have thought all those viruses were inside this thing? Thank you class, for helping me get rid of them."

"Hush Akira. You'll wake all the other babies up." Yai whispered to the black and blonde haired, green eyed baby. Yai was surprised when she saw the black hair with blonde tips on the baby boy. Chaud had smiled when he saw it, but Yai was trying to figure out how it had happened like that.

"Too late. Now Anastasia's up and curious." Natalie had to hold the baby farther away from Akira, whose hand had been touching her's gently. Anastasia wiggled slightly, trying to see the other baby behind her, but Natalie continued to rock her, trying to put her back to sleep.

"Want me to try?"

"Yes. Your daughter is already attracting boys, and thinks they're more interesting than sleep." Natalie handed the baby to Tory and then smiled at him, as the lights in the classroom dimmed.

"Okay, class. Now for the movie. If your babies cry, please find some way to keep them quiet." Ms. Mari said, and then moved away from the screen. She had allowed the class to move up and get themselves comfortable, the movie was five hours long. They would break at lunch and then finish the movie at the end of the day.

"I really don't wanna watch this movie." Lan whispered, groaning. The title began to run across the screen and an adult couple began to talk.

"Do you think they'll show them-?" Natalie asked, quietly.

"I doubt it. But even if they don't we saw the other movie, remember?" Maylu answered, watching the movie intently.

"True." Yai added, and Chaud nodded in agreement.

**At Lunch**

"That movie is really boring. It only got interesting when she went into labor and after an hour and a half of that, it got boring again." Natalie said, walking toward a big tree with Tory walking beside her. He had Anastasia in his arms, who was awake and eager to play. She kept poking at Tory, and trying to suck on his shirt.

"I don't think it will get any better either, Nat." He moved Anastasia fingers from his shirt for about the fourth time, and then handed her to Natalie. "She misses her mom."

"Well I missed her too! Yes, I did." Natalie cooed, touching noses with the baby. Anastasia giggled and grinned at her mom.

"These things act so real." Yai commented, watching as Chaud managed to hold the Akira along with his lunch.

"I know." Maylu added, sticking a bottle in Sakura's mouth. She began to suck gently, making Lan smile and sit down his and Maylu's lunch.

"Well, I like them." Lan said, opening Maylu's lunch for her. And then he began to feed her, since her hands were full.

"Isn't that cute? He's feeding her!" Natalie cried, giggling.

Maylu grinned, "Don't worry; you'll have to be fed too, if you want to eat. You have to hold the bottle for Anastasia and hold her too, leaving you with no extra hands, Nat. Unless you plan on doing it with your feet."

"True." Yai said, feeding a piece of shrimp to Chaud. He didn't seem to care too much that Yai was feeding him and sometimes he caught her fingers in his mouth, making her giggle quietly.

"Yeah, but-" Natalie shut up when Tory shoved a piece of fried shrimp from her lunch into her mouth.

"You know, you shouldn't talk with your mouth full, Nat." Tory said, laughing. He ate some of his rice, and then fed another piece of shrimp to Natalie.

"I don't want to seem like a burden, Tory."

"You aren't. I'm having fun feeding you." Tory replied, with a smile. And that's how they spent their lunch, laughing and talking with Tory feeding Natalie.

**At the End of School**

"I hope you guys learned something from that video! Tomorrow, we'll be going back to our regular lessons, okay?"

Then entire class chorused, "Yes, Ms. Mari" before the bell rang to signal the end of the school day.

"Well, who's going to who's house? I need to make sure I know, so I don't call the wrong numbers." Maylu said, looking at the group of friends around her.

"Natalie's staying at my house this week." Tory said, and Maylu nodded.

"I'm staying at Chaud's." Yai said, moving Akira to her hip.

"And I'm staying at Lan's. So if anyone needs to call anybody we all know where we're staying?"

"Yup." They all answered together.

"Okay then." Maylu turned and put Sakura in her stroller and Natalie followed suit. She strapped Anastasia in and began to walk toward the classroom door, with Tory walking next to her. Yai did the same and then caught up with the other two.

"Call us and tell us what happens, Natalie." Yai whispered, as she walked by Natalie, going toward the limo parked outside. It was Chaud's and he stood next to the open door, waiting for Yai.

"Okay. I will."

"Good. See you later, guys!" Yai then folded up the stroller, handed Akira to Chaud and then got in. The limo drove off when Chaud got in behind her.

"Well, come on you two. We go part of the same way." Maylu said, pushing the stroller onto the sidewalk.

**Five Minutes Later**

"See you guys later!" Natalie and Tory yelled together, having reached Natalie's house. Natalie pushed the stroller inside the door and removed her shoes, motioning for Tory to do so as well.

"Mom?"

"Natalie, welcome home honey!" Natalie's mom came out from the kitchen and smiled, "So these are the baby projects Ms. Mari gave you? She's adorable!" Natalie's mom picked up Anastasia and held her in the air before bringing her back down to her face, "Hello little one. What's her name?"

"Mom, I'm going to stay at Tory's till Sunday for our project. Oh and her name's Anastasia."

"I know all about it. Ms. Mari sent all the parents e-mails. I think this is a very good project too. Now where is your husband?"

"Mom!"

"Hush, I'm just kidding. You must be Tory. I remember you from the party. How are you?"

"I'm fine." Tory answered, smiling widely at Natalie's mom. She smiled back and led him toward the kitchen, "Would you like something to eat Tory? A snack? Something to drink? I just made some cookies."

"I'd like a cookie, thank you." Natalie's mom nodded and handed Anastasia to Tory.

"Here, take her upstairs. I'll bring the cookies up. You two can stay here for a little while. I talked to your mother about it already. Such a kind woman she is!" Natalie's mom went back into the kitchen and Natalie led Tory upstairs to her room.

"Sorry, my room's extremely girly." Natalie said, before opening the door slowly.

"It's...wow...Natalie...your room...It fits you...Perfectly." Tory looked slowly around the purple and black room, surprised at how pretty the colors looked together. He took in all the toys lined against a shelf in the wall, probably from when she was much younger.

"Thanks, Tory. I just need to get some clothes and things and I'll be ready to go. You can sit on my bed if you want." Natalie went to her closet and pulled out a large, purple duffle bag and began to take clothes off her hangers and into the bag. Tory sat down on the bed and watched her, noticing how even she matched her room. He laid Anastasia gently on her back, in Natalie's bed.

"Hey! Can I visit my room too! NATALIE!" Nadalia cried, from the PET strapped to Natalie's hip. She jumped slightly at the cry Nadalia gave.

"Nadalia? Where have you been?"

"I've been here the whole time! You've just been ignoring me!"

"And me too!" Iceman cried, from Tory's PET.

"I'm gonna call the OP police on you!" Nadalia pouted, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"No, don't do that!" Natalie said, laughing. She logged Nadalia and Iceman into the net, watching as they both appeared on the computer screen.

"Nadalia, there is no such thing as the OP police." Tory commented, laughing. Natalie watched the happy expression and sighed. Tory was truly gorgeous.

"I know that, but my threat worked, didn't it?" Nadalia sat on the ground of her home page and Iceman sat down next to her, looking around Natalie's room.

"Lia, you shouldn't threaten your OP." He said, turning to face Nadalia. They had spent some time bonding while their OPs went through school and were both happy to get to stay together.

"I know, but its fun, Iceman." Nadalia answered, sounding like a child being punished.

Iceman grinned,"Oh, I agree. But it's still not nice."

"Fine. I'll leave her alone." Nadalia leaned forward, her face almost touching the computer screen, "Tory, what is she doing?"

"She's getting her things ready so you guys can stay at our house." Tory replied, rubbing the baby's stomach gently.

"Oh." Nadalia noticed the baby on the bed and gave a loud screech, "SHE'S SO CUTE! Is that the baby?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, Nadalia could you hold it down just a little bit? We all know the baby is cute." Natalie's mom said, from the door way.

Nadalia grinned,"Hi Mom! How are you today?"

"I'm happy to see your smiling face. I haven't seen you since what about two days ago? Why haven't you been coming downstairs to see me?" Natalie's mom answered, handing a cookie to Tory. She sat down on the bed next to him and smiled at Nadalia.

"Because Nat's been keeping me all cooped up in this PET. I wanted to get out yesterday, but she wouldn't let me." Nadalia said, sticking her tongue out at Natalie, who had walked by the computer.

Natalie rolled her eyes, "That's not why she didn't come to see you. I let her out. Why don't you tell Mom what you were doing yesterday?"

"I wasn't doing anything!"

"Liar." Natalie turned to her mom, grinning, "Mom, do you still have any of my baby clothes?"

"I thought you'd never ask! I washed them just in case you wanted them. I'll be back!" Natalie's mom hurriedly went out of the door and Natalie took her mother's place beside Tory.

"Can you believe how eager to help she is? That's my Mom for you."

"I think she's really nice. I can see where you got it from. Although I'm wondering if she's scared of the subway too? Mrs. Froid, did you get that from your mother as well?" Tory was going to make sure he kept his promise.

"No. My mom is not scared of the subway, and neither am I." Natalie said, giggling.

"Natalie Froid, you're lying. That isn't very becoming, you know." Tory replied, tapping her nose with his index finger. He grinned at her and picked Anastasia up. "If you hold her for me, I can carry your things for you."

"No, it's okay. I can carry my stuff."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep. Let's go help my mom out."

**Thirty Minutes Later**

"Thanks for dropping us off, Mom! I'll call you tomorrow!" Natalie yelled, as her mom drove off. Tory held the door open for her, while she walked inside his house.

"Mom! You home?" Tory yelled, taking off his shoes. He then took Natalie's off for her, since she was holding the baby.

"Yes! I'll be right down honey! I want to meet your wife!"

Natalie laughed, "Well your mom doesn't seem to have a problem with it."

"No. I'm guessing my dad isn't here yet. Probably still at work." Tory said, quietly. He led Natalie to the living room and watched as she sat the baby down on her back.

"She needs a diaper change. Don't you? Yes, you do." Natalie said, touching noses with Anastasia. She took the diaper bag from Tory and began the process of changing her diaper. By the time Tory's mom came downstairs, she was all done.

"Oh! You must be Natalie! My, you are so very pretty! I talked to your mother today too. She seems really nice." Tory's mom came into the living room, all smiles. Tory just laughed quietly as his mom took Anastasia from Natalie. "Why don't you show her your room, Tory? She can put her stuff up and you two can rest a while. Dinner will be finished in about ten minutes and I can watch the baby too."

"Alright mom."

"Oh! What's my granddaughter's name?"

"Mom, you make us sound so old." Tory said, exasperated.

"Her name is Anastasia." Natalie replied, amused. Tory rolled his eyes at her and then took her hand.

"Come on. I'll show you my room."

"Right behind you."

"Tory! Your father will need Iceman tomorrow. He's gonna make a few changes to his programming. Nothing extremely serious, just a few new things to make him more helpful."

"Okay."

**An Hour Later**

"Your mom cooks really well." Natalie said, unzipping the sleeping bag. She and Tory were sleeping in his bed, but to keep from raising suspicion, Natalie slept in a sleeping bag on top of Tory's blankets. The baby was lying in her crib beside them, and was sound asleep.

"Thanks. But those cookies your mom gave us earlier were delicious too."

"Thank you."

"Oh Iceman! I don't want you to leave me!" Nadalia said, with a sad pout on her face. She had heard Tory's mom tell Tory about Iceman's upgrades.

"Lia, you'll see me again later. I'll just be gone in the morning when you wake up. But I'll be back before you get back from school." Iceman put his arms around the sad girl navi sitting next to him.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Okay!" Nadalia yawned and smiled at Tory and Natalie. "Good night you two! Nat, behave!"

Natalie rolled over and looked at Nadalia,"I should say the same for you."

"O course not! I'm a good girl."

"Sureeeee...Good night, Iceman. Night Nadalia."

"Night, Nat. Night Tory." Iceman said, yawning.

"Good night you two." Tory replied, closing his eyes slowly. Natalie rolled back over and closed her eyes, going to sleep almost instantly.

"They'll be alright..." Nadalia whispered to Iceman, who nodded and went to sleep as well.

End Chapter 4


	5. The Effects

Being in love is never easy!

By: Sailorjj07

5. The Effects

A/n: I haven't updated in like...forever! I'm so sorry! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! Oh and THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING TOO!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

**Ages:**

Yai, Maylu, and Natalie: 12

Lan, Chaud, and Tory: 13

Sunlight filtered in through the window, and birds chirped as the sun rose behind them. Natalie rolled away from the offending light and opened her eyes slowly, only to find Tory's peaceful and calm face in front of her own. He had an arm around her, which she hadn't noticed until then.

_'He looks so cute like that! I hope he doesn't wake up for a while. I wanna watch him longer.'_

"Nat, why are you looking at me like that?" Tory opened one eye slowly, making Natalie giggle quietly. He had a sleepy expression on his face, and Natalie laughed again.

"I was just watching you sleep."

"Do you do that all the time?"

"I've never been around while you were sleeping, Tory."

"Are you going to start doing that all the time?"

"Probably." Natalie smiled, and rolled over, so that she was facing the baby's crib. She sat up and looked down at Anastasia, only to find her still asleep. Natalie lay back down against the bed and turned to face Tory again. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Not exactly."

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...its 6:30, Natalie." Nadalia said, stretching. She walked up to the computer screen and grinned at the sleepy faces that met her.

"Its 6:30! Ah! I won't have enough time to be ready!" Natalie got out of Tory's bed quickly and began to dig through her bag. She grabbed several items then ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind.

"It takes her that long to get ready?" Tory said, opening his other eye. He sat up and looked at Nadalia for an answer.

"No, but she likes to make sure she looks alright. Natalie sometimes has a problem with how she looks. So she tries to put in a bunch of different hair styles to see which looks the best on her."

"But everything looks good on her."

"That's what I said. But you also have to add the fact that Dex told her she was the ugliest thing he had ever seen in his life. If someone I loved said that to me, I'd probably feel pretty ugly."

_'Dex has no idea how bad he scarred Natalie. She never deserved the treatment he gave her.'_

"Oh, did you notice that your Dad came in and got Iceman?"

"He did? When?"

"At exactly 5 o'clock this morning. He was still sleeping when your Dad took him."

"Well you'll see him when school is out, Lia."

"I know, but...I miss him already!" Nadalia cried, dramatically. Tory grinned and picked up Anastasia. He took her diaper bag and began to change her. He heard the shower turn on and smiled to himself.

**30 Minutes Later**

"NATALIE! ANASTASIA IS CRYING!" Nadalia appeared on the TV of Tory's living room. Tory was in the shower and Natalie had been downstairs with Tory's Mom helping her make breakfast.

"I'll be there in a second, okay!" Natalie untied her apron and ran up the stairs, throwing Tory's door open. She walked to the crib and picked up Anastasia, rocking her.

"Is she okay?" Tory asked, peeking his head out of the bathroom door. Natalie blushed a bright red and turned the opposite direction, continuing to rock the baby. _'I never knew Tory had a body! Oh my...'_

"Yeah, she just panicked because she didn't see anyone." Natalie told him, rocking the baby still. She hoped that Tory didn't see the blush on her face; that would be embarrassing. But he really didn't have to tempt her like he did, hanging out of the doorway like he was.

"Oh, okay. Just checking." Tory turned and closed the bathroom door behind him.

"Whew...That was close."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh! I saw the look on your face! You were looking at him, weren't you! I'm telling!" Nadalia cried an amused look on her face.

"If you tell on me, I tell on you.'I MISS ICEMAN!' I heard you, Nadalia." Natalie smirked at her navi and went downstairs, with her "daughter" in her arms.

**10 Minutes Later**

"Mrs. Froid that was the best food I've had, next to my mom's." Natalie said, smiling at Tory's mom. She smiled back and took Natalie's plate for her.

"Thank you. That's a wonderful compliment coming from my son's pretend wife." Tory's mom giggled, winking at her son. A light blush crossed Tory's cheeks and he looked down at his breakfast, shoving food into his mouth so he didn't have to answer anything. Natalie watched him and laughed, knowing his mom was going out of her way to embarrass Tory. It was all in love though, she could tell.

"So when do you two have to be at school?"

"By 8, ma'am." Natalie answered, trying to be polite as possible.

"Would you like me to take you?" Mrs. Froid asked Natalie. Natalie opened her mouth to answer, but Tory answered instead.

"No thank you, Mom." Tory said, getting a weird look from Natalie. He smiled at her, making her wonder what he was up to.

"You sure honey?"

"Yup." Tory stood up and grabbed Natalie's hand, "Come on, we have to get ready to go. We still have to walk."

"O-okay." Natalie let herself be pulled into Tory's room and then got her backpack off the floor. Tory got his own backpack and then got Anastasia's diaper bag.

"You ready to go?"

"Yeah, just let me get Nadalia." Natalie got Nadalia's PET and strapped it to her hip. "Now we can go."

**At School**

"So what happened with you and Tory last night?" Yai whispered, sitting down next to Natalie. Maylu nodded and turned her chair around, pulling it up to Natalie's desk. Natalie blushed slightly, but shook her head.

"Nothing. I watched him sleep this morning. And..."

"And?" Maylu and Yai asked together, leaning in closer to Natalie.

"And Tory leaned out of the doorway in the middle of his shower to see if the baby was okay."

"Wow...So...What'd you see?" Yai asked, grinning.

"I only saw his chest, but let me tell you, it was a wonderful sight!" Natalie said, with a large grin on her face.

"I bet it was. I always knew Tory was hiding something from us." Maylu replied, laughing. Yai nodded and bounced Akira on her knee, then watched as he reached for Anastasia's hand.

"Awwww! They like each other!" Yai cried, smiling.

"Hey, keep your son away from my daughter." Tory gently took Anastasia out of Natalie's arms, smiling at her. He tossed her up, making her giggle and Tory laughed at her little smile.

"I can't help it. He's just so adorable! Right Chaud?" Yai turned to see her boyfriend walking over towards her. Lan walked behind him and went over to Maylu to get Sakura out of her arms. He smiled at the little pink hair baby and tapped her nose.

"Right, Yai." Chaud had no clue what he was saying right to, but if it made Yai happy it didn't matter.

"See? Even Chaud thinks Akira's cute." Yai grinned at her boyfriend then turned back to Natalie. "So what are you and Tory doing tonight?"

"Nothing. That I know of. Why? What's going on?"

"Oh nothing. Chaud and I were trying to figure out what to do after school today and we couldn't come up with anything. So we were wondering...Do you guys wanna hang out?"

"Lan and I can!" Maylu cried, smiling widely. Yai grinned back at her and looked at Natalie, "Well?"

"Ummmmm...I can't..." Natalie answered, a weird expression crossing her face. _'Today's the anniversary...and I totally forgot...I have to go visit.'_

"Does that mean you can't either, Tory?"

"I might..." Tory glanced at Natalie, out of the corner of his eye. He watched as her eyes became misty and immediately began to worry. Natalie had been fine this morning, why would she be upset all of the sudden?

"Okay. Well, if either of you change your mind, just let me know." Yai walked back to her seat with Tory, smiling at Natalie. She had caught onto the misty look as well and wondered what was going on. _'I know they didn't have a fight. She was just happy a minute ago!'_

**An Hour Later**

"Natalie! Natalie, I believe I asked you a question." Ms. Mari (and the rest of the class) stared at Natalie. She had been staring out the window since class had begun and Ms. Mari watched as she wiped her cheeks and turned to face the board.

"Yes, Ms. Mari?" Natalie bit down on her bottom lip, knowing she hadn't been paying attention in class. They entire class watched as she wiped her cheek again with the back of her hand and faked a smile. "I'm sorry; I'm a little out of it."

"I can tell. I asked you if it is possible for a deleted virus to return."

"Yes, it is. The deleted data can join with other data and create another virus." Natalie answered, grinning at the end of her answer. She knew she had gotten the question right.

"That is correct. Now viruses can always return like that way and there are also other instances..." Natalie tuned Ms. Mari out and stared out the window again. _'I can't believe he's been gone for only two months. It feels like it's been two years since I last saw him. As much as I hate to admit it, I still love him. Even though he tried to kill me, I would've forgiven him...I know I would have. But Tory...Tory is so different from him. He's shy and quiet and sweet and I like him a lot. Maybe it's better if I don't go see the grave today. Maybe it'd be better if I forgot all about him. Although, I know I can't. That's what I hate the most. I know I can't forget all about Dex, because I loved him for such a long time. I was always happy to see him smile and see him laugh. But I was always sad too. Sad that he ignored me. Sad when he called me ugly. I was always sad when I saw him with Maylu and Yai. I was always sad when I worked for him. And my heart broke when he held that gun to my head. Dex, why'd you have to be so stupid! You could've still been alive. You could've still had me to love you. But you threw your life away just like you threw me away. I hope...its better this way. I hope you're happy in the dead place you live. I hope you have someone there to love you. 'Natalie_ watched as it began to rain outside, reflecting how she felt. The rain splashed against the window and left a wet trail. Natalie could have sworn it was falling down her face as she continued to stare out the window.

_'What's wrong with Nat? I've never seen her look so sad...I hope it's nothing I did...' _Tory watched as Natalie wiped her cheeks again, and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. She turned to face the front of the classroom and sighed. _'Something's wrong and I'm going to find out what it is.'_

**At Lunch**

"You're free to go to lunch class! But you have to eat inside today, since it's raining!" Ms. Mari yelled out the door. The rest of the class was almost half way down the hall when Natalie walked out with Anastasia in her arms. Tory walked beside her, glancing at her every now and again.

"What's with Nat?" Yai whispered to Maylu, who glanced at Natalie and then back at Yai.

"I have no idea. She was crying in class."

"Yeah, I saw."

"Do you think it has something to do with Tory?"

"Probably..."

"I bet it does."

"Me too."

"Well let's cheer her up! And Tory too. Look at his face. He's worried about her."

"Yeah, he is. Let's cheer them both up!" Yai and Maylu grinned at each other then made their way to Natalie and Tory. "Hey you two! I'm gonna have a movie party at Chaud's house! You two should come!"

"I don't know-." Natalie started, but Maylu shook her head, cutting her off.

"You're going to come whither you want to or not. I refuse to go to a movie night if you two don't come along and I really want to see the movie that Yai is showing us. It's a New Release!"

"Natalie, let's go. It'll be fun." Tory told her, smiling gently at her. Natalie nodded and smiled softly back.

"Fine, I'll go, but only if you promise to hold Anastasia while I eat."

"I promise."

"Then we can go." Natalie smile wider and walked into the cafeteria.

**At the End of School**

"Everyone ready?" Yai asked, leading the entire group to the limo. They had called their parents on Yai's cell phone during lunch and had gotten permission to stay until 9.

"Let's go!" Natalie cried, grinning at Yai. She had gotten a lot happier during the day, mostly because Tory had been flirting with her. He had told Yai that he liked watching her blush. He only told because Yai threatened him, but that was beside the point.

"Okay." Yai opened the door and let everyone into the limo. When she finally climbed in, she smiled at her friends. They all held babies between themselves and everyone was tickling and grinning and just being...happy. Yai loved it.

**At Chaud's House**

"I've wanted to see this movie! I never got to see it!" Natalie plopped down on the couch happily, eager to watch the movie. Tory sat down next to her with Anastasia in his arms, sleeping. He watched as Chaud and Lan pushed the table out of the way and laid a blanket down. They place Sakura and Akira down on the blanket, who were both sleeping. Tory put Anastasia down as well, and watched as she snuggled into the blanket that she was laid on.

"Well they're comfortable." Yai commented quietly, watching the babies sleep soundly.

"Yup."

"That's just less work for us." Lan added, sitting down on another couch with Maylu. She leaned her head against his shoulder and smiled at him. He smiled back and kissed her forehead gently.

"Oh yeah! Tory, here. Your Dad brought this over earlier." Yai handed Tory his PET and watched as he stared down at his PET.

"Iceman? Is that you?"

"Yep! Dad made some pretty cool improvements, huh?" Tory nodded slowly as he stared down at his navi. Iceman was as tall as Glyde now, but he had the same clothes on as before. His face didn't look as young as it had been, but you could tell it was Iceman. The air around him seemed a lot colder, as if he could control the temperature of the air.

"Wow, your dad really made some changes. Hi Iceman!" Natalie leaned over Tory and smiled at the improved navi. Iceman waved and then looked at Tory.

"Do I look alright?"

"Since when did you care how you looked?" Tory asked, amused.

"Well I don't...but I don't know what Lia will say..."

"I'm sure it won't bother her too much." Natalie said, logging Nadalia into the TV. She had made a fuss about wanting to watch the movie as well. Roll hugged Nadalia as soon as she saw her.

**In the Net**

"Hi Nadalia!" Roll cried, making everyone laugh at her. Megaman waved at her, as did Glyde. Protoman just nodded in response.

"Hi Roll!"

"Did you hear what happened to Iceman?" Roll whispered, walking with Nadalia to the screen.

"No. What happened?"

"I'll let him tell." Nadalia felt someone tap on her shoulder and turned around. Nadalia blinked, "Iceman?"

"That was my name last time I checked."

"Iceman! I missed you today!" Nadalia threw herself into Iceman's arms, nearly knocking him over.

"Lia, I missed you too."

"Hey! You're taller than me now! Wow! Cool!" Nadalia took a step back and admired Iceman's physical changes, then took a step back, "The air around you...It's colder. How much did he improve?"

"Well my physical appearance for one and he also improved my fighting capabilities. And some other stuff too...But I don't remember everything he said." Iceman chuckled to himself and Nadalia just grinned.

"Well it's cool whatever he did!" Nadalia sat down next to Roll, who waved at Iceman. She winked at Nadalia, and then turned to face the screen.

**In the Real World**

"Wow, your dad wasn't kidding when he said he was going to make improvements on Iceman, was he? I think they're neat! Maybe we should have a practice battle to test them out." Natalie said, grinning. Tory nodded at her and turned to the big projector screen as the movie started. Chaud dimmed the lights (don't ask why) and then he sat down next Yai.

"I heard this movie was really romantic." Maylu commented as the previews began. Yai nodded and so did Natalie.

"Yeah, that's what I heard too." Natalie added, smiling to herself. Tory turned to her and placed a finger on her lips.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhh...the movie is starting."

Natalie nodded and thanked the heavens that the lights were out. She really didn't want Tory to the blush across her face.

"Exactly how long is this movie?" Lan asked, whispering softly.

"Three hours." Maylu replied, her eyes fixed on the screen.

"THREE HOURS! WHAT THE HECK IS THIS MOVIE ABOUT!"

"LAN! SHUT UP!" Maylu hit him in the back of the head and glared at him in the dark. Lan muttered an apology and rubbed his head, a pout crossing his face.

"You didn't have to hit me."

"SHHHHHHHHH!"

"Fine." Lan pouted even more and watched the movie. Maylu kissed his cheek to make him feel better, and then went back to watching the movie.

_'The last time I watched a movie with someone it was with Dex. I remember it perfectly. He got up in the middle of the movie because he said he couldn't stand being in the same room with me for an hour and forty-five minutes. A freaking hour and forty-five freaking minutes! Why was I so hung over him in the first place? He was a jerk, but I missed him. I still kinda do...' _Natalie glanced at Tory out of the corner of her eye and leaned her head against his shoulder. _'But Tory's making me barely miss him. He's helping me to recover from all the pain and problems that Dex put me through. I really should thank him for it, but if I do that, then he'll know that I like him. Then again, him knowing isn't exactly a bad thing...Oh, I don't know!'_

"Nat, you okay?" Tory whispered into her ear, making her shiver. Natalie nodded, and turned back to watch the movie. She decided to stop thinking because it made her head hurt and because it was making her sad.

**Three Hours Later**

"I told you it would be a good movie!" Yai cried, grinning at Chaud. He sighed, but nodded anyway. "This means you lost the bet, Chaud."

"It's not like I wouldn't mind losing, Yai." Chaud replied, making a blush cross Yai's face.

"I never said you wouldn't."

"That's something you two should keep to yourselves." Natalie commented, smiling mischievously at the couple. Tory nodded and burst into laughter as Yai blush brighter.

"Whatever!" Yai turned and faced the opposite direction of the two and logged Glyde out of the screen.

"Hey Natalie! Can we go home now! It's already six and we have homework!" Nadalia said, giving Natalie a stern look. "Mom told me to make sure you weren't slacking off and that's what I'm going to do."

"And Mom said the same thing for you, Maylu." Roll added, smiling at Maylu. Maylu nodded and logged Roll out of the screen. "We better head home then."

"Oh, we can take you! To the limo, everyone!" Yai excitedly gave the baby to Chaud and walked to the intercom against the wall. "We need a limo in the front, pronto."

"It's amazing how all your people take orders from Yai and she's the daughter of the rivaling company." Maylu told everyone, watching as Yai nodded at the intercom. Someone had answered her and she had an accomplished smile on her face.

"My dad almost died when I told him whose daughter she was. Then I told him that she was my girlfriend too. I thought he was going to kill over." Chaud stated a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, that was really amusing." Yai nodded in agreement, and then led everyone down stairs to the front of the house.

**After Dinner (At Tory's House)**

"Tory, you and Natalie need to be in bed by ten!" Mrs. Froid yelled up the stairs. She wiped the pot in her hand and waited to her an answer.

"Okay!" Natalie and Tory said together, smiling at each other.

"Night you two!"

"Night!" They spoke together again, and Nadalia laughed.

"You two are so weird." Nadalia looked between the two and watched as Natalie giggled. Nadalia shook her head and turned to Iceman. "Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?"

"Did it hurt to get those improvements added?"

"No. Why would they hurt?"

"Well...Because, when I got them-...I mean nothing..." Nadalia replied, not looking at Iceman. She looked down at the ground and suddenly felt bad. _'I said too much. No one is supposed to know.'_

Iceman took a step closer to Nadalia, causing her to look up at him, "That didn't sound like nothing to me. What were you saying?"

"Nothing."

"Lia..."

"When I got some improvements added, they hurt. I remember it like it was yesterday. All they were doing was improving my battling capability...At least that's what they said they were doing. I was just wondering if it hurt you, like it hurt me."

"It's not supposed to hurt you. You aren't even supposed to feel anything when they do it." Iceman hugged Nadalia with a sad expression on her face. He knew the World Three was evil, but to make a navi go through pain when all their doing is improving them? That was just wrong.

"Iceman, I'm okay. It was just a question, right?" Nadalia faked a smile and then sat down. "I think I'm going to sleep." Nadalia lay down on the ground and closed her eyes, turning the other way so Iceman didn't see her face. _'I wonder if I'll get in trouble when Nat finds out I said something.'_

**At 12:00 Midnight**

"NO! STOP! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Natalie shot up, gasping for breath. She took several deep breaths and closed her eyes, trying to calm down the fast beating of her heart.

"Nat...What's the matter?" Tory asked, tightening his grip around her waist. He pulled her closer to him, and rubbed his cheek against her hair. Natalie tried to calm down and wiped the tears that were streaming down her face.

"It...It was just a nightmare, Tory. That's all. Just a nightmare." Even when he was half-awake Tory was so sweet to her. Natalie took another deep breath and released it slowly.

"Is that...Did Dex do that to you?"

Natalie drew in her breath sharply, then released it slowly again, "Tory...It's okay...You can go back to sleep."

"You didn't answer my question." Tory said, quietly.

"Tory..."

"Did Dex do that to you?" Tory tugged on Natalie's sleeping bag, making her turn over and face him. He looked at the fear and pain in her dark violet eyes and knew he had hit the nail on the head.

"Dex and the World Three. After Maddy and the others left...Dr. Wily went...crazy. He was determined to make us stronger and we had to endure so many things..." Natalie whispered, staring into Tory's eyes. She felt like he could see everything she was thinking and she closed them tightly, trying to stop the tears that were trying to come through.

"Natalie, I'm so sorry." Tory hugged her to him and stroked her hair gently. Natalie's bottom lip began to tremble and then the tears began.

"Tory, it was so terrible...So terrible..."

"Nat, you didn't deserve anything they did to you."

"But Dex...he said..."

"He lied to you. Just like how he said you were ugly, he lied."

"But I am ugly..."

"Natalie, you are the most beautiful person I've met in my entire life. Inside and out. You are not ugly. You're so beautiful."

"Tory..."

Tory shook his head and held Natalie tighter, "It's okay, Nat...It's okay..." Natalie nodded and just let herself cry, releasing all of her past in tears.

End Chapter 5


	6. Poor Natalie!

Being In Love Is Never Easy!

By: Sailorjj07

6. ...Poor Natalie!

A/n: It's been a while huh? No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth, but life got to me and I couldn't post. Now, I'm gonna finish this fic and get to work on MORE! YAYY! Anyway, now for the long awaited chappy!

Disclaimer: I don't own, so stop reminding me!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

**Ages:**

Yai, Maylu, and Natalie: 12

Lan, Chaud, and Tory: 13

Tory could've sworn his house was burning down around him when he woke up. He sat up almost immediately and looked around the room, alarmed and afraid that his house WAS actually burning down.

"Tory, are you okay," Iceman asked from the computer, watching his OP look around the room frantically.

"Iceman, is the house alright?"

"Yeah...Last time I checked it was. What's up?"

"It's really hot over here..." Tory glanced around him and then it dawned on him like the sunlight was doing outside his window. It wasn't himself who was hot, it was Natalie! (Such an observant child, huh?) Tory looked down at the girl snuggled into his arm, and found her face flushed and red, "Iceman, it's Natalie. She has a fever."

"Should I call your mom?"

"What time is it?"

"It's 6:00 in the morning."

"We'll wait until 7 to call Mom. For now, I'll just have to try and fix it myself...I guess." Tory got out of bed and went into the bathroom, running a cloth under the cold tap water, before wringing it out and walking back towards his bed with it. When he walked up, Natalie was squirming and moving, looking like the ill person that she indeed was. Tory placed the cloth on her forehead and watched as she calmed slightly, and even some of the sickly paleness faded from her face, simply from the change in temperature.

"Lia, Natalie's sick...wake up." Iceman poked the female navi sleeping near him and then watched with a smile as she yawned and stretched.

"Wha-?" Nadalia yawned out, rubbing one eye with a fist.

"Natalie's sick...what should we do?"

"Let us sleep..." Nadalia said, yawning again and laying back down. She pulled her purple cyberblanket tighter around her and closed her eyes again, almost instantly going back to sleep. Iceman watched with a laugh and then turned back to Tory.

"You heard the girl. Let her sleep." Iceman reported with an amused look. Tory nodded and laid back down, turning to put his arms around Natalie and hold her closer. He wanted to keep a close watch on her temperature, but he was sleepy after their last night therapy session. Natalie had cried hard and long over the many aches and pains caused by Dex and Tory found himself almost hating his old friend for putting such a wonderful girl through so much. He held her tighter against him, as he thought about it a little more, and then glanced down Anastasia, making sure she was still sleeping.

"Natalie...I'll protect you...against anything and everything...I promise..."

**At 7 o'clock in the Morning**

"Tory, honey, you and Natalie are going to be late if you don't-...Tory?" Tory's mother had walked into his room, only to find Natalie still asleep and still in bed. She looked around the room and saw Nadalia and Iceman playing cards together, but she didn't see Tory anywhere. Finally, he came out of the bathroom, the same cold cloth from before in hand.

"Hey Mom...Natalie's sick." Tory told her, sitting on his bed and placing the cloth on Natalie's forehead again. She released a sigh, in her sleep, and Tory turned to face his mother.

"Well Tory, honey, I can't stay here to take care of her. Your father needs me to help him out at work today. I won't be able to stay with her."

"We can't just leave her here by herself, Mom."

"Yes, yes, I know...How about...you stay with her?"

"Me? You'd let me do that?"

"Yes, but JUST this once, and you have to promise not to tell your father."

"Mom, I promise! Thanks." Tory smiled at his mother, happy that she was willing to let him stay with Natalie. He knew if he went to school he'd be so worried about her, he wouldn't be any good for anything.

"Now, there's some soup in the pantry. Make it for her around noon, in case she wakes up. And make sure she drinks LOTS of liquids, okay?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Now be good and behave. I love you, Tory." Tory's mom kissed his cheek and then winked at Iceman and Nadalia,"You two better behave as well."

"Yes ma'am!"

"Good. See you later!" With a smile, Tory's mom left his room and Tory laid back down in his bed, hoping that Natalie's temperature would fall soon. Anastasia wasn't going to be a very happy camper when she woke up, either. Tory gave a sigh and simply watched Natalie sleep, wondering when the baby was going to wake up.

"Ya know, Natalie rarely ever gets sick..." Nadalia watched her OP with a worried expression, but it calmed when Iceman put his arms around her, and hugged her gently. Nadalia smiled slightly, and turned around, almost surprised at his actions.

"She'll be fine. Tory can take care of her. I know it." Iceman grinned, happy that he was taller than Nadalia know and could see the top of her head. It was the only time he had ever been glad that his height had been changed, since before it didn't 't even matter much.

"I bet you're right!" Nadalia cheered up immediately, grinning madly. Iceman smiled as well, and then released her, laughing at her sudden change in attitude. It was the only thing they could do to make the situation better, and they smiled wider as Tory grinned and laughed at the two. He shook his head and then turned back to Natalie, reaching out and holding her overly warm hand. He gave it a slight squeeze and then closed his eyes, drifting off with Natalie the last thought on his mind.

**At Noon**

"OH NO!"

Tory bolted up to find Natalie in a nearly mad panic. He stared wide-eyed at her before blinking slowly, "Nat, what are you doing?"

"Tory, WE OVERSLEPT! We are so late for school! OMIGOSH, OMIGOSH, Ms. Mari's gonna kill us! Oh, what was I thinking! How did I oversleep! Tory!" Natalie was rushing toward her bag at the edge of the bed, but tripped over it and fell directly in the spot where she had been laying minutes before. She sat up, but Tory wrapped his arms around her small waist and yanked her back down, forcing her to be still and actually LOOK at him in the face.

"Natalie, you were sick. You woke up with a fever earlier this morning. We aren't going to school."

"I was sick? What're you talking about? I don't feel...Oh." As soon as Tory had told her that they weren't going to school, her sickness actually kicked in, and Natalie had to fight the urge to pass out from the heat that rushed to her head. Her cheeks were still flamed and even more so, now that she had ran around the room in a frantic mad rush to get dressed and get to school. Natalie leaned back on the pillow and then looked at Tory again, who had a small smile on his face.

"Now you remember?"

"I guess so..."

"Natalie, go back to sleep. We aren't going to school, there's no reason to worry, 'kay? Sleep."

"Mmmmhhhmmmm..." Natalie did as she was told, and soon, she was fast asleep again. Tory turned over to find the two navis snickering at the computer behind them, and as soon as Natalie's head hit the pillow, they burst into full-fledge laughter.

"Hahahhahahahahaaa! We tried to tell her, Tory! We really did!" Nadalia exclaimed, trying not to laugh as loudly as she was.

"Hahahaha, did you see her? She was running around like she was actually going somewhere! HAHAHAHAHA!" Iceman added, laughing about as hard as Nadalia was. Tory just rolled over, while rolling his eyes at the two navis, whom were still laughing madly.

"You guys..." Natalie threw a pillow at the computer and actually hit the screen, making Nadalia and Iceman shut up immediately. Tory snickered before bursting into laughter at the frightful look crossing both of their faces. He smirked at them both with a look that said, 'Serves you right', before getting out of bed and taking Anastasia to get something to eat.

"I'm going downstairs...Can you keep an eye on Natalie for me, you two? If anything happens, come get me."

"You got it boss!" Iceman waved as Tory left the room and watched as he closed the door. Nadalia giggled a bit more before turning to watch her OP. She heaved a sigh and sat down on a net chair, leaning her head back against the chair.

"I'm worried about her, Icy. I mean, what if this is just the first day of many? That's the first time she ever broke down like that, but what if it happens again tonight? Will she be sick again tomorrow? I don't want her to keep being sick because of stupid Dex. I'd hate for that to happen to her."

" 'Lia she won't stay sick. Tory won't let her." Iceman answered, sitting down next to the chair. He leaned his head against the armrest and Nadalia placed her arm near his head. His voice was soft, so that he wouldn't wake Natalie and so that Nadalia could tell he was very honest.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I've never seen Tory look so...careful about a girl in my life. I've never seen him get so upset about one person being sick and I've never seen him so happy to have that person smile at him. Tory cares about Natalie...A lot. I can tell."

"Hmmm, well, I could say the same for Natalie. And after that whole thing with Dex, someone like Tory is who she really needs. Me and Mom can only do so much. The same goes for Yai and the others."

"Exactly. So really, they're...um...what's the word I'm looking' for?"

"Good for each other?"

"Yeah, that's right. They're good for each other." Iceman looked up and grinned at Nadalia, who smiled softly in return, before turning back to watch Natalie, thinking to herself quietly.

**In The Kitchen**

"Lalalalalalalaaaaaaaaaa..." Tory was humming the tune from the TV as he made Anastasia's bottle and fed it to her. He held her close to him and rocked her gently, remembering to give her time to breath, before placing the bottle back in her mouth. By the time Anastasia was finished, Natalie's soup was done and he placed the sleeping child back in her crib before going back downstairs and putting it in two bowls. He ate first, then took a cup of orange juice on a tray with the soup and taking it upstairs to his room. Placing the soup on the nightstand, he cleared off his desk and placed the tray on it, deciding that now would be a good time for Natalie to eat, if she had any plans of recovery.

"Hey Nat."

"Mmmmmhhhhhh?"

"Natalie...Natalie, get up.."

"Hmmmm?"

"Get up, Nat."

"Mmmmmmmmmm, twenty more minutes please..."

"Nat, get up. You need to eat."

Natalie rolled over and opened one eye slowly, glancing at Tory,"Huh?"

"You need to eat something and then you can go back to sleep, I promise."

"Promise?"

"Yep."

"Kay...", Natalie said, yawning and stretching before she sat up completely. Tory held his hand out and helped her stand up, leading her to where the food was placed at his desk. She sat down and ate quickly, but slow enough so that she didn't get sick from it. Then when she was done, she let Tory help her lay back in bed, but when he tried to leave Natalie sat up, "Tory, come lay down with me...I'm cold..."

"Nat..."

"Pleaseeeee?" She looked so cute and so tired that Tory fought down a smile and obeyed. He laid down next to Natalie, who immediately snuggled up beside him, like a child would it's teddy bear. Tory sighed and watched the girl breathing, surprised that he was once again in the same position he had been in much earlier.

"Go ahead and sleep too, Tory. We'll wake you if Anastasia cries." Nadalia told him quietly, smiling gently at the young man laying with her OP. Tory nodded and was soon as fast asleep as the girl beside him was.

End Chapter 6


	7. A Note And A Church

Being In Love Is Never Easy

By: Sailorjj07

7. A Note and A Church?

A/n: Wow, sorry. Life is MURDERING ME, you guys. I barely have time to SLEEP nowadays. With school just starting and now I'm in Yearbook AND it's my senior year, AND I'm tryna get a new job...It's crazy. Anywho, THANK YOU TO ALL WHO REVIEWED!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"So you AND Nat stayed at home ALONE?! OH MY GOSH, TORY!! That's serious!" Yai was rejoicing on the inside. Not only was Tory opening up to her and losing his shy nature slowly, but he was ACTUALLY making progress with Natalie. They probably had the most romantic day: skipping school and being together. It gave Yai ideas for the next time she didn't feel like going to school.

"Shhhh!! Yai, not so loud! I only told you because...I think...I need your advice."

"Oh really? You want MY advice! Tory, that's one of the best things I've ever heard! I'm more than glad to help you!" Yai cried, posing dramatically, and laughing behind her hand, in a show of complete and total conceitedness.

"No wonder you're head is so big, Yai..." Chaud said, coming up and placing his hand on top of Yai's head. He smirked at the girl below him, who smiled nervously back.

"H-hi Chaud."

"Yai, are you being bad again? What have I told you about trying to turn everyone's lives into a soap opera?"

"I know but-!"

Chaud shook his head and tugged on Yai's arm, while speaking to Tory, "Look, just tell Natalie how you feel about her. Geez, you guys are pitiful. First Lan and now you. It isn't that hard, you know." With a sigh, Chaud gave Tory one final nod, and walked away, dragging Yai along with him. He muttered something about, "Overdramatic Girls" which cause Yai to walk on her own, and away from him.

"I have to tell her..." Tory told himself, thinking about how exactly he would do that. He did live with her, so it shouldn't be that hard, but he was shy. And nervous. And down right scared. What if she rejected him? Tory didn't want to be turned down and rejected.

"I have to tell her."

**Elsewhere**

It was Natalie's turn to go out and buy groceries. Since Tory was staying in her house again, she had to buy extra. Tory had some kind of training with his dad and Lan, but Natalie didn't mind. It was her time to spend with their (artificial) baby. Anastasia gooed and gaaed all the way to the store, winning the hearts of many mothers and girls on the way to the store. The trip was uneventful, but Natalie had felt an odd presence as she was leaving the store.

"Anastasia? Hey little one." Natalie smiled and played with the baby in the stroller who was giggling and smiling at her. The two walked towards Natalie's house, when she saw a beautiful out of place building that she had never seen before. It was a church, a huge church, that looked about two or three stories high. It was light blue with silver and gold outlines on the doors and stained glass windows.

"Was this here before? I don't remember this being here on the way to the store, did you?" Natalie asked, holding up her PET to show Nadalia the building.

"Wow...It looks brand new, Natalie. But no, I don't remember us walking by it either."

"That's odd..." Natalie shrugged and placed her PET back on her hip, "I guess I was so worried about memorizing the shopping list that I didn't see it."

"Probably. It's really pretty though!"

"Yeah, it is. But come on, Mom needs some of this stuff to start dinner." Natalie told Nadalia, who promptly agreed with her, while Natalie rushed on. She didn't want to be late with her mom's dinner. She'd probably kill her and then bring her back to life.

**With Tory**

"Mom, I'm home!" Tory called out, into the house, walking through the front door. As he headed towards the stairs, Natalie's mother greeted him.

"I'm so glad you're actually calling me by that name like I asked you too! Such a good, respectable boy." Natalie's mother grinned at hearing a boy call her mother. She had always wanted a son and a daughter, but since all she had was Natalie, Tory was the next best thing to a son. She was going to treat him like one and he would treat her like a second mom. It was only fair.

"Thanks...Mom." Tory had felt odd when he had first came back and she had demanded the name change, but now that he had started he just couldn't stop. Natalie's mom was overjoyed though, and so he was happy. Plus, Natalie didn't seem to mind all too much either, which really mattered in the end. Tory sighed and dropped his backpack in Natalie's computer chair, like she had told him to do, then plopped down on his sleeping bag. As the air was forced out of the bag, something else was too: a small slip of paper. Tory looked down and read the whole note, staring at it with slight curiosity. He read it over and over so many times that Iceman finally asked why Tory was being so quiet.

"There was a note...In my sleeping bag, Iceman."

"Well, what's it say?"

"It says, 'You can't have my sloppy seconds'. What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sloppy seconds? Like food? You ate someone's second sloppy joe, Tory?"

"No! Iceman, I've never taken anyone else's food, what are you talking about?"

"That's what it sounds like to me."

Tory sighed, and laid down on sleeping bag, holding the note up higher, rereading it a few more times, "Sloppy seconds? What exactly does that mean?"

"How the heck should I know?"

"Let's think about it..."

"Ok, start thinking."

"Alright...Hmmmm, let's see...Sloppy seconds...I know I didn't take anyone's food, so they aren't talking about food...Hmmm, did I take someone's 2nd page of notes and they wrote in sloppy handwriting?" Tory thought for a second and glanced at Iceman. They both shook their heads at the same time.

"Nah," Iceman answered, placing a finger on his chin in thought.

"Hmmmm, then what else could it be?"

"Tory!!" Tory jumped as he heard his name called from the kitchen downstairs. It was Natalie's mom, he guessed. "Can you come here? Natalie needs your help with something!"

Tory sighed and slid the small note into his pocket, with a shrug,"Ahh well, we can figure it out later."

"Ok."

Tory nodded as Iceman sat there inside the computer, still thinking about the note. What WERE sloppy seconds?

**At Dinner**

"Whoa! Curry? Cool!" Tory didn't know they were going to have curry, and know that he knew, he wasn't worried about the note anymore. Tory liked curry a lot.

"I see you're a curry lover too? That's Natalie's favorite food."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it is," Natalie added, sitting down as her mother put a plate of food in front of her spot at the dinner table. She placed a plate in front of Tory and then sat down in front of her own.

"So, how was your day, you too?"

"It was good, Mom." Tory answered, bowing his head over his food before digging in.

Natalie followed suit and answered after she had swallowed her first bite, "Same for me."

"Good. Anything interesting happen today?"

Tory shook his head, deciding that the note wasn't something to talk about with Natalie's Mom. He even debated wither or not to tell Natalie, since it might worry her. He took another bite, slowly, contemplating on what he was going to do.

"Well, I came across this church on my way to the store today."

"A church? Since when was there a church over here?" Natalie's mother asked, eating her food as well.

"I don't know, Momma. That's why I thought it was really odd."

"Hmmmm, that's odd. I don't remember there ever being a church in this area...What'd it look like?"

"It was light blue...with stained glass windows and everything. It looked about two or three stories tall...I've never seen anything like it before."

"Well isn't that just an unusual thing? I don't even recall anyone building anything in this area."

"Me neither..."

"Oh well! No use worrying about something that's already there, right?"

"Right!" Both females glanced at Tory and waited for his agreement, but he was thinking off on his own. When Tory realized it was quiet, he looked up, wondering why both women were staring at him. Suddenly, it clicked and Tory blushed slightly, embarrassed by his lack of attention,"Ummm, right."

Natalie and her mom laughed at Tory's blush, but went back to eating and chatting, since they didn't get to often.

**At Bedtime**

The moon was shining brightly through Natalie's dark room as she climbed into her bed, with Tory laying in the sleeping bag beside her. She yawned, and then turned to face Tory, who's eyes were closed.

"Tory..."

"Hmm?"

Natalie jumped, since she hadn't expected Tory to answer her.

"What is it?"

"What were you thinking about at dinner today? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Nat. I'm fine."

"Well you were in lots of thought and so, I was just wondering..."

Tory sighed and reached out for Natalie. He turned her and pulled her back against him, releasing another sleepy sigh. Tory was the type to do extremely bold stuff when they are sleepy, and so grabbing Natalie was just one of those things.

"I got a note today."

Natalie laid still, with Tory's arms around her and closed her eyes. She wasn't going to sleep yet; this note business was making her curious.

"A note? About what?"

"I have no clue..."

"What'd it say?"

"Something about sloppy seconds."

"Sloppy seconds? You mean like when a girl goes out with another girl's ex-boyfriend?"

"I don't know."

"Hmmm, sloppy seconds...I think that's what the letter means. Have you taken another person's ex?"

"No..." _'Unless you count YOU...Then yes, I have...' _Tory sat in thought for a second and then his heart nearly stopped beating in his chest. It WAS Natalie! It had to be! But the only person she had gone out with was..._'Oh no...But I thought he had-? Then it can't be! But Natalie's the only person that I want...So it HAS to be.'_

"Well then, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be put in your sleeping bag." Natalie said with another yawn. She slowly drifted off to sleep as Tory held her, sighing at the warmth she felt from him. This was heaven.

"But who else would it go to? Did you take someone's ex, Nat?"

"Of course not! At least I don't think so..." Natalie blinked slowly, 'Did _Tory ever have an ex? Has he even gone out with anyone before? Maybe he had and I just never knew about it...Am I taking him from someone else? Is HE a sloppy second?' _

Natalie thought about it for a little while longer.

_'Nah! Of course he doesn't...'_

"Natalie?"

Natalie blinked again, and looked at Tory's face, wondering what he was saying,"Huh? What?"

"I asked you if you were involved with someone's ex?"

"Ummmm, no, not that I know of."

"Not that you know of?"

"I mean, I dunno if that person had an ex or not."

"Ohhhh. Well then maybe it's to you?"

"I doubt it. It was in YOUR sleeping bag. If it was to me, it'd probably be on my bed." Natalie knew she wasn't making all that much sense, but that was ok. She was sleepy and not making sense was a trait of that sleepiness. She needed to go to bed, ASAP.

"Nat?"

"Huh?"

"What if-..." Tory started to ask, but found himself unnerved. He couldn't do it...Not yet...not right now. He couldn't ask her about Dex; he didn't want to hurt her.

"What ifff?"

"Nothing. Night Natalie."

Natalie sighed, and laid her head on her pillow, telling herself to ask Tory about it later. "Night Tory." Natalie was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the soft, squishy pillow underneath her and Tory rolled to his side, to watch her sleep. He tried to think about if the note was truly directed to him. He didn't think it was possible for Dex to have written the note, he was dead after all. The dead can't write notes to the living, and Dex wouldn't have prewritten it either. Tory hadn't even met Natalie when she had been in love with him, so that threw that path out of the window too.

"Then what is going on?" Tory asked himself quietly, the silence and Natalie's snoring his only answer. Tory sighed again and laid down on his pillow, closing his eyes. With Natalie in his sight of vision, he couldn't think straight, and that wasn't going to help him in the situation. What was he supposed to do?

"Tor...go to sleep."

Tory jumped when Natalie's voice cut across the silence that had been filling the room. His eyes flew open and he looked at her, but Nat's eyes were still closed and she was still hugged up on her pillow. Tory laughed nervously at himself, and then closed his eyes, wondering how in the world Natalie managed to say something like that in her sleep.

"Nat, you're so amazing..." Tory whispered quietly, turning over and trying to relax again. He decided to worry about it in the morning.

**The Next Morning at 7:00 A.M.**

"Bye Mom!!" Tory and Natalie yelled together, walking out of Natalie's front door. Natalie was humming lightly and Tory just listened to her, while they strolled down the street. Their morning had been off to a wonderful start and neither was all that willing to mess it up.

"Hey Nat?"

"Yeah?"

"Didn't you say there was a church on that street yesterday? Don't you think you could see it from here?"

Natalie's head turned as soon as that church was mentioned, and her humming stopped immediately. Sure enough, from this point you WOULD be able to see the church. That is...if it had been there.

"What in the world?" Natalie stated, staring in the direction she had gone just the day before. She held onto the stroller tighter, and shook her head, wondering what was happening.

"Natalie...?"

"Tory, that church was there yesterday. I promise you." Natalie glanced at Tory and looked to see the look on his face. He looked thoughtful and contemplative, but not once did she see doubt run across his face. Tory believed her...that was good. _'Whew...'_

"She's right, Tory! I remember her asking me about it." Nadalia added, jumping to Natalie's aid, even though it wasn't needed. Tory believed her completely.

"It's not that I don't believe you two...But I just don't see how it could just...up and vanish like that."

"I don't know how either!" Natalie resisted the urge to pout; she should've taken a picture of it! Natalie's grip on the stroller's handle tightened, and Tory watched as her knuckles turned almost white with her grip. He reached up, and placed a hand over here's, a soft smile crossing his face.

"Don't worry, Natalie. We'll figure it out." Tory told her, hoping that he would relax her grip somewhat. Her hand would be hurting later, if she didn't.

"Tory, you're right." Natalie answered, as determination flew across her eyes, in what looked like a spark. "We WILL figure this out..."

_'Because this isn't normal...' _Nadalia glanced up at the look on the two OP's faces, keeping her thoughts to herself. She would help too...Even if that meant hacking for it.

End Chapter 7


	8. Guess Who's Back?

Being In Love Is Never Easy!

By: Sailorjj07

8. Guess who's back?

A/n: This chapter is going to be GOOD! At least, I hope so. Oh I'm giving you fair warning now. I think this is also around 9 pages, at the very least. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR THE LOVELY, LOVELY reviews! You guys are the best!!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN!! Geez...TT

"Natalie...Natalie..."

Natalie groggily rolled over, as her name was called repeatedly. It was entirely too early for someone to wake her up. Who the heck was calling her?!

"Natalie, get up!"

"...Hmm?"

"Nat, it's time to get up now. Mom's already made breakfast." Tory heaved a sigh, as Natalie ignored him and rolled over. The girl could sometimes be impossible to wake up. He turned her towards him, and tried again, "Nat-! WHOA!"

Natalie rolled over onto him, almost straddling him, and a sleepy, lazy smirk crossed her face, "Why are you trying to wake me up? I don't wanna get up, Tor." Natalie yawned and placed a single hand on Tory's chest beneath her, then laid her head on his shoulder.

"N-Natalie, you h-have to get up...Mom said so." Nadalia laughed as a huge blush spread across Tory's face. Iceman covered her mouth for her though, to quiet her giggles.

"So? Torrryyyyy, I don't wanna..." Natalie closed her eyes this time, snuggling into the warm body beneath her. The bright red blush on Tory's face grew even brighter, and this time, even Iceman had trouble holding in his own laughter. Tory found his heart racing to a rhythm that was faster than ever before, and it was only because of Natalie's closeness.

"N-Natalie..."

"...Hmmmm?"

"Your mom says to get up."

"I know..." Natalie sighed, and rolled off of Tory, looking up at the ceiling. "Fine, I'll get up."

"Sorry Nat."

"No you're not."

"I am."

"Nu-uh."

Tory grinned nervously, and hugged Natalie as she continued to stare at the ceiling, "It's time for breakfast. See you downstairs, Nat."

"Ok." Tory walked out of the room, trying to calm his racing heart and his extremely hot face.

Natalie strolled over to her dresser, got out her clothes for the day, and took them to the bathroom, while Nadalia and Iceman tried not to laugh.

**Downstairs**

"Tory, did you finally get Natalie up?" Natalie's mom was spooning rice into bowls, as she spoke to Tory, "It's always been a task getting that girl up."

Tory nodded and moved the bottle from Anastasia's mouth, so that she could breathe, before placing it back in, "She got up though."

"Hey, no talking about my sleeping habits." Natalie walked in clothed, showered, and grinning. She was in a fairly good mood this morning. Nadalia laughed as a blush stained Tory's cheeks when her OP walked into the room.

"It's not like we weren't talking about anyone else. You're the only one who sleeps like that, besides Lan Hikari," Natalie's mom said, handing the rice bowls to the two sitting at the table. Natalie winked at Tory, who in turn bowed his head and stared at his food.

"Hey Tor, wanna go do something today?" Natalie asked, spooning rice in her mouth. She swallowed and ate a spoonful of scrambled eggs, and grabbed a piece of bacon from the center of the table.

"I actually wanted to watch a movie with you...if that's okay?" Tory answered, quietly, that blush coming back to his face. It would be the first time he asked Natalie somewhere, just the two of them, and so it was almost like...a date?

"Tory...are you..." Natalie glanced at her mom, who was humming away in the kitchen, and lowered her voice to a whisper, "Are you asking me...on a date?"

"Sort of...?"

"Tor, be honest. Are you or no?" Natalie put her hands on her hips and gave Tory a look that said, "Be honest".

"I am." Tory sighed, slightly dejected. What if she said no?

"Then yes! I would love to go! And I'm sure Momma wouldn't mind watching Anastasia for an hour or two...Right Momma?" Natalie beamed at her mother's back, and watched as she nodded.

"Yes, of course, I'll watch the baby for you. You two do need some fun time anyways."

"Thanks, Mom." Tory added, smiling at her joyfully. Natalie giggled at the look on Tory's face, and then turned to the PET at her hip.

"Nadalia, can you-?"

"Iceman and I are already on it. And we found one, but you have to just go. Don't ask what it is. We picked the movie for you two together. Your tickets will be ready when you get there." Nadalia answered, smirking at Natalie, who was almost surprised by her navi's quickness in completing a task BEFORE she had been asked to do it. (Keyword: Almost. Lol)

"What time are they for?"

"12:30 and THEN we have the REST of the day planned. With Tory's help, of course. This is going to be your best first date ever! We promise." Iceman told Natalie, grinning his face off the entire time. Natalie shook her head, wondering what the two navis would have schemed together for her and Tory.

"Well, then I guess we better get ready for this ultra wonderful date thing, huh?" Natalie asked, turning to face Tory, who was still grinning like an idiot.

"Yes, I think so."

"Well come on! We only have two hours!!" Snatching up Tory's hand, Natalie waited until he handed the baby to her mother and then drug him upstairs with her.

**At 11:45 A.M.**

"SEE! LOOK Tory! I TOLD you! It's right there!" Natalie was pointing madly at the church that hadn't been there the day before, but was now there in the same spot that it had been. The couple was on there way to the movie theatre and had walked directly past the spot where the church was supposed to have been, but wasn't. At least, it wasn't the last time the walked there together. Now it was there in broad daylight, as if a constant reminder that it did indeed exist.

"...Wow..." Was all Tory could manage, because he had remember that a church was NOT there the day before.

"What's going on? Churches just don't appear and disappear out of the blue...Maybe we were in a DA?" Natalie suggested, trying to come up with a good reason as to why this was happening.

"A Dimensional Area? No, I think we would've known if we were in a Dimensional Area, Nat."

"But then what else-?"

"I have no idea..." Tory stared at the church, even stopping in front of its marble steps, memorizing everything about it. He had never seen the building before in his life and for it to vanish and come back again, he didn't know if he would ever see it again. Plus, something just wasn't right about it.

"Well, no use in worrying about it right now. We can check it out when we are on our way home." Natalie said, taking Tory's hand and continuing on. Tory nodded, allowing Natalie to lead him away, though he was still glancing at the church until the walked so far that he couldn't see it anymore. Something was weird about that church...

**At the Movies**

"I wonder what they picked?" Natalie stated excitedly, grasping Tory's arm like a little lost puppy to it's a new owner. A blush ran across the shy boy's cheeks, but he tried to ignore that fact and just enjoy being there with Natalie. She grinned at Tory's blush and led him to the ticket kiosk, where they got their tickets and went inside. Natalie waved excitedly when she saw Lan and Maylu, which brought another bright blush from Tory.

"Nat! Tory! What are you two doing here?" Maylu cried, hugging Natalie like she hadn't seen her at school the day before. Natalie laughed and hugged Maylu back, knowing what her friend was thinking before she asked any questions. While Natalie was tight her embrace, Maylu asked in a whisper, "Are you two on a date?"

"Yes!" Natalie whispered back, excitedly. She was so happy that she could share her joy with someone, especially Maylu. She knew Yai would probably call her when she got home, if Maylu got back before she did.

"Hey Tory, what's up?" Lan questioned, grinning at Tory, who nodded and smiled shyly. he couldn't bring himself to say anything because at the moment, he was blushing too much for his own good.

"So what are you two here to see?" Maylu had finally released Natalie, only for her to go back to Tory and cling to his arm again.

"Actually, we don't really know. Nadalia and Iceman picked the movie out, and I didn't even bother to look at the tickets. But the guy told us where the theatre was, so that's where we're going." Natalie answered, knowing that her answer sounded kind of silly, though in truth she didn't care all that much either way.

"Well, let me look at your tickets." Maylu said, holding her hand out for the tickets. Tory handed them wordlessly to her and her smile grew, "You're seeing the same movie as us! We can sit together!"

"Can we get some popcorn first, Maylu? I'm kind of hungry..." Lan smiled sheepishly at Maylu, as she put her hands on her hips, and Natalie laughed along with Tory. That relieved the slight shyness in Tory and he found himself smiling wider, because, not only was he on his very first date with the most wonderful girl he had ever met, but now Lan and Maylu were there to share that with him. That made Tory so happy that he wasn't nervous about messing up the date.

"Yes Lan, we can get some popcorn. How 'bout you two get us some seats?" Maylu turned to Tory and Natalie, giving them a smile that said everything would go fine. They both nodded and walked away, arm in arm, towards the theatre.

"So...I wonder how Tory got the nerve to ask her to the movies today...I suggested it to him, but I didn't think he would actually do it." Lan whispered to Maylu, as the two had disappeared from sight. Maylu nodded and stood in line with her boyfriend, holding his hand happily.

"Wow, Lan, I'm proud of you. I didn't think you knew ANYTHING about getting a girlfriend and here you are helping Tory out with Natalie."

"I got you, didn't I?" Lan grinned at this, and Maylu laughed loudly.

"Lan, I don't count. I was in love with you before we were going out." Maylu answered, matter of factly, and then she ordered their popcorn, along with a large drink and then one of each for the other two.

"Hmmm, you do have a point, I guess."

"Lan, don't think too hard about it." Maylu giggled again, and tapped her boyfriend on the nose, since his hands were now full with a single tray holding both large drinks and popcorns.

"Maylu, if I didn't love you so much..." Lan told her, grinning and laughing at her obviously good mood. He followed Maylu to the theatre where they spotted Tory and Natalie sitting together, with two empty seats beside them. Maylu sat down first, and then Lan after, while Natalie took her popcorn and drink from Lan's tray when he walked by her.

"Hey, how much was this?" Natalie asked, handing Tory the bag of popcorn, while she put the drink in the cup holder between them.

"Doesn't matter." Lan said, starting to munch on popcorn already. Maylu nodded in agreement and the theatre began to grown darker.

"Well, let's see if this movie is any good..." Natalie whispered to Tory, who laughed and ate some popcorn from the bag.

**45 Minutes Later**

"I REFUSE TO BE YOUR SLOPPY SECONDS! I'M NOT JUST SOMETHING YOU CAN GIVE AND TAKE AWAY! I'M NOT!"

Both Natalie and Tory stared wide eyed at the movie screen. Sloppy seconds...that was in the note...

"Nat..."

"Tory..."

They had both whispered to each other at the same time, to convey their thoughts to one another. But one look at the other told them that they didn't have to...They were both thinking the exact same thing, at the exact same time.

"That's what sloppy seconds are..."

"That note..."

"Was talking about me." Natalie's hand shook as she pointed at herself, as if to physically say the word "me". Natalie couldn't believe it...there was no way...At all. She shook her head, and tried to clear her head. She was on her first date with Tory, for goodness sakes! She couldn't be scared...She couldn't have flashbacks...not right now.

"Nat?"

"...yeah?"

"Don't worry..."

"Tor..."

"Nat, don't worry."

"I'm trying." Natalie leaned forward, and met foreheads with Tory, who placed a hand on the back of her head to hold her there.

"Well don't try...just...just do it. Stop worrying..." Tory whispered to her and Natalie nodded, though there forehead's were still touching. They stayed like that for two seconds, which was all the time that Tory needed to gather his courage, then he leaned forward and kissed her lips softly; just enough to distract her thoughts. Natalie tried not to show her surprise or her enjoyment, but the blush on her face said it all for her.

"Tor..."

"Shhhh, the movie is still going on." Tory smiled at Natalie, releasing her head and turning back to face the movie screen. Tory had done the right thing too, because after that, it was all Natalie could think about. Natalie leaned back in her chair and tried to focus her thoughts on the movie, but now she couldn't. At all.

**An hour later, at 2:15 P.M.**

"Wow, that was actually a pretty good movie." Maylu told Lan and the others, while she pressed a few buttons on Roll's PET. The navis had been watching the movie too, and were all talking to each other about it, when Maylu had logged Roll out. "Megaman go back to your own PET!"

"It's not my fault you logged Roll out while I was holding her." Megaman answered, grinning at his girlfriend, who was blushing brightly. He ran his fingertips across the blush on her cheeks, making her blush more.

"Geez. Lan, please get Megaman out of my PET before Roll dies from blushing so much." Maylu giggled as Roll's blush brightened even more and she gave an angry huff at her OP.

"Maylu, leave me alone!" Roll cried, in exasperation. Nadalia laughed and so did Iceman, though they were both back in their own PETs.

"Nat, are you hungry? Cause I am." Tory stated, glancing at Natalie out of the corner of his eye. She was holding onto his arm again, and this time she was leaning on his shoulder too, with her eyes closed as the walked.

Natalie opened her eyes, "Actually, I was just thinking about that. Why don't we go somewhere and get something to eat? I'm starving now that I think about."

"Yeah, no kidding. That popcorn didn't help at all." Lan interjected, even though neither of them had actually been talking to him.

"Well Lan, since we're all hungry, let's go get some food. What do you guys want?" Natalie asked, glancing around at their little group.

"Curry!"

"Lan, you ALWAYS want curry."

"Yeah, I know, but the curry at the placed owned by the World Three people is the best!" Lan shouted, pumping his fist in the air. Just the thought of their noodles made his mouth water.

"You do have a point." Tory said, nodding in agreement with Lan. They actually did have really good curry, despite the fact that they were the world's most awful villains. They had really sucked at their job as bad guys, but that was besides the point. Tory felt Natalie stiffen up, just a little bit. It was probably at the mention of World Three, even though the retired members weren't there when she was. They probably wouldn't even know her.

"Well? Nat, what do you say? Want to go there?" Lan questioned, and Natalie nodded silently. She would be alright, even if the store was owned by older World Three members. It wasn't like they were Dr. Wily or anyone that was there when she had been a part of that weird, dark, abusive group. She only knew the people because of the curry restaurant they owned and they were pretty friendly and nice to her every time she had gone.

"Sure, let's go. I'm in the mood for some curry anyway."

"YEAH! LET'S GO!" Lan cried excitedly, pumping his fist in the air again. Maylu looked around them at the people staring and dragged her boyfriend out of the theatre with Natalie and Tory in tow.

**At Maha Ichiban, at 2:30 P.M.**

"If it isn't Lan and his friends. Welcome to our shop." Yahoot was behind the counter when they walked in, smiling and laughing among each other. He nodded towards the kids and waited for them to take a seat, before nodding at Maddy.

"Well, well, Lan, I guess you just wanted to get beat up so badly that you had to find me on a Saturday?" As they rounded the corner of the closest booth, Lan gaped at Chaud and Yai, who were sharing a soda together.

"Wow! Hi Natalie! And Tory too, of course." Yai smiled and waved at them, happy that her friends were there, along with the love of her life, of course.

"What we don't get a hi too Yai?" Maylu asked, as she sat down next to Chaud in the booth. Natalie, Tory and Lan sat down on the other side of the table and all six grinned at each other.

"Hi Maylu. Hello Lan. What are you guys up to?"

"We just got out of the movies. And you know how Lan is after a movie." Maylu told Yai, winking at Lan playfully from the other side of the table. Chaud rolled his eyes and put his arm around Yai's shoulders, sipping out of the straw for a moment. He glanced at Tory and Natalie, which caused both to blush. Chaud had regarded them as a couple!

"Hey! I'm not the only one. Natalie and Tory were hungry too!" Lan said, pouting slightly. Maylu was trying to make him sound like he was always hungry. Which he was, but, that was beside the point.

"So whaddya want?" Maddy questioned, glaring at Maylu and Yai before turning to Natalie and smiling at her. She liked Natalie because Natalie never called her old.

"We would like some chicken curry, old lady." Yai told her, smirking at Maylu who laughed. Maddy gave a growl, but wrote it down anyway, before walking over to Yahoot and telling him what to make.

"Lan, how ya doin'?" Lan turned to find the man he called Mr. Match, lounging in the booth behind them.

"I'm fine, Mr. Match. How are you?"

"As well as can be expected, I guess. I heard some rumors and sent Fireman to check it out, though he ain't came back yet, so I'm starting to wonder what happened."

"What were the rumors about?"

"That someone from World Three was causing some problems, but that can't be cause all of us are here. And we would know wither or not we were causing problems."

"I sent Elecman with him and he hasn't said much either." Count Zap called, from behind the counter. He was currently putting out the plates so it would be easier for Yahoot to fill them.

"I wonder what happened?" Maylu glanced around at the table, though she realized that Natalie had turned her head, and was now facing the window.

"Apparently, someone had hacked into some of the military's systems and stole a few research programs...And that same someone was destroying everything in it's path to get there." Maddy added, spinning around on the bar stool by the group's table. A few more customers walked in and she hopped up, going to take their order.

"FOOD'S HERE!" Zap placed the food on the table with a happy grin, at the money he was SURE to get from this group. He handed out plates all around, and everyone started eating, causing Match to get up. It was rude to bother people while they were eating.

"So I wonder who it could be? I know Wily isn't back and everyone else that was in World Three quit." Lan said, when he had inhaled all of his food.

Natalie picked at her food for a bit, before shaking her head, and eating it all quickly. She was trying to force the thoughts; the "what ifs" that were coming to mind. Tory focused his ears and eyes on the girl beside him, though on the outside he was eating quietly, just like he normally did. Finally, he saw Natalie finish all her food and take a deep, slow breath. She sat her spoon down and look seriously at the other five people around her.

Then she raised her hand,"Mr. Match, Maddy, can you two come over here for a second?" And Tory's brain ran like clockwork. He knew exactly what Natalie was doing and what Natalie was about to say, as soon as she had called those two over. The two came, as requested and Natalie reached into her back pocket, and pulled out...

The note.

"Huh? What's this?" Match asked her, regarding the folded piece of paper oddly. He took it as Natalie offered it to him, and then looked up at her expectantly.

"Read that and tell me what you think." Natalie's voice was cool, and unusually calm, which was never something that you got from such a playful girl. Tory took hold of her hand under the table, and Natalie breathed a slight sigh; it gave her relief to know that he was supporting her decision.

Match read the letter, then handed it to Maddy, who then gave it to Zap, and finally he gave the letter to Yahoot behind the counter. When all four had read it, Maddy handed it back to Natalie, and she simply handed it to Chaud. Chaud opened the letter and read it, with Maylu and Yai reading over his shoulder. Lan was the last to read it though, because when he handed it to Tory, he gave it back to Natalie.

"Who is that from?" Maddy had felt the need to ask, before any other questions were directed at the girl she barely knew.

Natalie shrugged her shoulders, "We don't know."

"Who is 'we'?"

"Me and Tory." Natalie replied, her voice extremely solemn. Maddy nodded and turned to look at the faces of the rest of the group. Why did they look so worried all of the sudden?

"So who's it from?" Match asked, and this time Tory answered him.

"We don't know. We found it in my sleeping bag."

"In YOUR sleeping bag? So this was...directed at you, Tory?" This time Maylu had a question and both Tory and Natalie nodded in answer.

"Yeah, it is..." Natalie said quietly, her voice trailing off when she hadn't meant to. The worried look that crossed Maylu's face was horrible for Natalie to see and she soon realized that even Yai was thinking the same thing as she had been. "Mr. Match, Maddy, can I ask you a question? What exactly are 'sloppy seconds'?"

"Well when a boy and a girl are boyfriend and girlfriend..." Maddy started, but then turned to Match because she was at a slight loss for words.

"And then they break up..." Match added on, and Count Zap found himself having to finish the sentence.

"It's usually an insult to their ex and the ex's new boyfriend or girlfriend to call them a 'sloppy second'."

"Oh no..." Natalie covered her mouth as the words slipped out, and she felt Tory's grip on her hand tighten.

"Natalie, who was your boyfriend before Tory?" Maddy asked, and watched as the girl removed the shaky hand from her mouth. Neither denied that Tory was NOT her boyfriend, because at the moment that didn't even matter. The thoughts swirling through Natalie's head made her unable to speak and so Tory answered for her.

"Dex."

At the single name, Tory received several unbelieving looks because everyone had known the truth...Dex had killed himself.

"There's no way, Tor.." Lan stated, trying to make himself believe what he spoke. But no one could deny that the letter was indeed talking about Natalie and no one could shake the fact that the letter was there.

"But he's the only person." Yai said, leaning against Chaud. There was no way Dex could be back, because he was dead. There was just no way!

"Yai's right..." Natalie shakily told them, leaning against Tory and closing her eyes tight. She felt like crying now.

"And this World Three person who's stealing stuff...There's that too." Match added, wondering just how it was possible for this kid to be alive again. He remembered reading the story in the newspaper about the kid that killed himself, so how was he writing letters to an ex girlfriend if he was dead?

"But how?" Maddy asked, looking around at all the worried faces. (With the exception of Chaud, of course.)

"I don't know but,-"

"Match! You'll never believe what just happened to us!" Elecman chose at that moment to materialize back into his PET, wiping sweat off his brow. One of his pylons was broken and he held his left arm in pain. Slowly Fireman came back to his PET too and didn't say a word, slightly angry with himself for having to log out.

"What happened? Are you two alright?" Count Zap cried, staring down at his PET. He slotted in a healing chip for his navi.

Elecman nodded, taking the chip gratefully and plopped down on the ground of his homepage, heaving a sigh, "We'll be fine. But hey, you remember that really big yellow navi? The one that used to hang out with Megaman all the time?"

Lan looked around at everyone and saw them staring at Count Zap's PET with their faces paling. It seemed he and Chaud were the only ones that were calm.

"Yes, I do. What about him, Elecman?"

"HE was the one stealing all that stuff. He stole some cloaking programs that the government had been testing."

"Cloaking programs? What exactly did they do?"

"They hide stuff in the Real World from being seen. All the tests had been successful and so he said he was taking them. Something about replacing the ones 'at home'."

"Did he say where that was?"

"No, he didn't, but I think we can possibly-"

"There's no need for that." Tory interjected, stopping the conversation between navi and OP. He now knew EXACTLY where to go, and exactly who he would find there.

"There isn't? Why not kid?"

"Because Natalie and I know where it is...There was a church-"

"Something else?! Geez..." Maddy gave an exasperated sigh. What was with all these things happening at the same time? And how did they tie into each other? Nothing was making sense to her. She turned to Tory, but he was more occupied with the girl beside him, who body was shaking so hard that HE was shaking too.

"Natalie..." Maylu whispered, watching as her friend covered her face with her hands. She watched as Natalie tried to breath slowly, and calm herself, but she was doing an awful job of it and everyone could tell. Tory put his arms around her and hugged her to him this time, hoping that would help her some.

"The church that we passed on the way home that keeps showing up and then going away again. I remember Natalie talking about it earlier." Iceman this time answered the group's questioning gaze, figuring the Tory need the time to help Natalie out anyway.

"A church that vanishes and appears? WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!" Maddy yelled, giving each of her ponytails a tug. Then untying her apron, she tossed it over the counter to Yahoot, and snatched up her PET from the bar. "Come on, you guys. We're going. Match, bring it! We're going to find this kid who's ticking me off and now. He's soiling the World Three name!"

"What? Why me?"

"Because you're my boyfriend! Now you heard me! Get up! You guys too. We're going to this church. And we're marching in there and asking this weird kid what he's doing and why!" Maddy demanded, and all six at the table got up, though Tory and Natalie did so extremely reluctantly.

"But there's no way it could be him..." Yai said, and this time even Chaud shook his head at her.

"Yai, he's the only one that could call Natalie a 'sloppy second', and not only that, how many people do you know own a big yellow navi. That's Gutsman. We all know that. It HAS to be him, there's no denying that." Chaud told her, taking her hand as the walked towards his limo. He opened the door for her, and then motioned for everyone else to get in. He knew that none of them would willingly walk to the place where they could possibly meet a dead person.

**At the "Church"**

"I thought you said it vanishes and appears?" Maddy asked, as she climbed out of the limo. She stood with her hands on her hips, as the rest slowly filed out of the car behind her.

"Just because it vanishes and appears doesn't mean we won't see it now. Maybe he wants us to see it, Maddy." Mr. Match said, regarding the building in front of him. It looked like a simple enough church, and it was almost kind of pretty, if it wasn't for the fact that it was housing a kid that was supposed to be dead.

"Maybe he's not in here and we're all blowing this way out of proportion." Maylu added, staring up at the church nervously. Yai and Chaud both shook their heads and started climbing the stairs.

"Well, let's see then." Chaud replied, reaching the top stair and opening the door. He held it open for Yai and then as it started to shut, Lan ran up and held it open for the oncoming people in their little group. Natalie and Tory walked in behind Maylu, Natalie grasping Tory like a lifejacket, and Tory simply staring straight forward. As Lan looked at him a little more, he almost thought Tory looked...angry. Now what was Tory mad for? Shrugging, he waited until Mr. Match got to the door and took Lan's spot, holding it open for Maddy. When all of them were inside, Match let the door shut and the group found themselves inside of an entrance area. It was a small little room, and in front of them stood a set of doors, which Chaud pushed open. What he saw made Maylu and Yai gasp, as well as him and Lan stare.

Natalie was the first one to speak however, and the amount of fear in her voice was enough for Maddy and Match to know who it was...

"Dex."

It was all Natalie got out before she fainted right there, with Dex standing almost 30 feet away from them. Tory caught her right before she hit the ground, but that didn't change that fact of what they saw. Dex was there, alive, and in front of them.

What the heck was going on?!

End Chapter 8


	9. You can't!

Being In Love Is Never Easy!

By: Sailorjj07

9. You can't!!

A/n: THANK YOU TO ALL WHO REVIEWED! I really wanna finish this before I graduate so I'll be updating as OFTEN AS POSSIBLE! I promise you guys. Now, on with the chappy that you've all been waiting for!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

As the entire group stood there staring at the boy that was supposed to be dead, three things happened. First, the dead boy started laughing madly at the looks on all the faces in front of him. Second, Tory handed Natalie to Maylu, who just took the girl mutely, staring straight ahead. And finally, the entire group's eyes to widen in surprise, because Tory went charging forward, raising his fist in the air and throwing a punch strong enough to knock his ex-friend flying at least three feet.

The only problem is...Tory's hand went right through him.

As Tory stood staring wide eyed at his fist floating through what would be Dex's stomach, the dead boy laughed again, and Lan ran forward, hoping to give his friend some sort of back up.

"Tory, you really are a fool. First, you take my slut of an ex-girlfriend, and try to make her feel like a real person. And now you want to hit me? Idiot."

"Shut up, Dex! Natalie is a real person, and a better one then you ever were!" Tory told him, pissed off beyond all reason. Everyone could tell that the usually shy and quiet boy was mad. If looks could kill, Dex would be dead...again.

"Stupid boy." Came the only reply before Tory was electrocuted and he fell to the ground. Lan and Chaud ran forward and helped Tory up, before jumping backwards together, away from the threat that was Dex.

"Dex, why are you here? How did you survive? We saw you...We saw what happened." Maylu cried out, clinging to Natalie so that she didn't hit her head on the floor or something.

"Does it matter? I'm here and I'm back with a vengeance. Natalie is mine, this whole city will be mine soon enough."

"You can't!" Nadalia exclaimed from her PET, hearing the voice of the one person she hated for her entire life.

"Natalie doesn't want to be with you! And we won't let you take this city without a fight!" Lan yelled, trying to keep his anger in check. Chaud was doing the same, but he still seemed to remain extremely cool on the outside.

"Oh? So you want a fight? Then a fight you can have..." Dex began to fade away and his voice echoed hauntingly throughout the church before the altar began to sink into the ground and a huge fan rose up and took its place. The fan began to blow at full blast, forcing the whole group out the doors and onto the sidewalk. Mr. Match grimaced as his back slammed into Chaud's limo door, but he held on tightly to Maddy so that she wouldn't feel any of it.

"Is everyone ok?" Yai questioned, rubbing her head and back, before she stood up. The pile of three boys got up, but only two of them nodded...Tory was out cold. Natalie, who Maylu was holding, was very still also.

"Those two aren't."

"Apparently. Natalie was so afraid that she fainted...Poor girl." Maylu said, ignoring the way her arms were stinging from holding onto Natalie so tightly. Yai nodded, and they all got into Chaud's limo, heading directly for the hospital. They tried to lay the couple out, each on their own bench, but because there were too many people in the car, they allowed them to sit up, leaning against the seats.

"Hurry." Was all Chaud had to tell the driver before they went speeding off to the hospital.

**At the Hospital**

"She just fainted. Here use this bottle and wake her up. As for the young man, he has several burns. Once we put some ointment on these, he should be fine as well. Make sure the both of them get lots of rest though." A nurse told the group, handing them a bottle to place under Natalie's nose. She had laid the girl in a hospital bed anyways, since they were in the ER.

"Of course." Yai answered, taking the bottle and opening it. She plugged her nose, and ran it under Natalie's, making sure it was close enough for the girl to get a couple of huge whiffs. The result, of course, was Natalie bolting up and coughing loudly, before looked around her at all the worried faces.

"Where are we?" Natalie asked, looking around at the clean, white room.

"At the hospital."

"Why?"

"You fainted Natalie." Maylu told her, sitting on the edge of the bed with Yai.

"Oh...OH!" Natalie then remembered what happened and turned with a scared look on her face, "Where is he? What happened to him?"

"Who?" Yai questioned, not sure if Natalie was talking about Dex or Tory.

"Tory! Where is Tory? And Dex! Was he really there?"

"Well, Tory...Tory is...-" Lan started to say, but a sound at the doorway stopped him from speaking.

"I'm right here." Tory smiled at Natalie from the doorway, even though there were bandages on his arms and legs. Natalie pushed the covers away and jumped out of the bed, running to Tory and hugging him tightly without pressuring his wounds. As soon as he put his arms around her to hug her back, Natalie burst into tears and hugged Tory tighter.

"Should we leave them alone?" Mr. Match whispered to the group that was watching the two.

"No, we should get the girl off of Tory before she makes him collapse from pain!" Maddy cried, worrying that Tory would indeed collapse from pain. However, he didn't do anything but smile more and hug Natalie, allowing her to cry on him until she felt like stopping.

After five straight minutes, Natalie stopped and together she and Tory sat on the hospital bed. The rest of the group just watched them in silence, wondering what to do about this new problem.

"So how did we get out of there?" Tory asked quietly, after a few more silent minutes had passed.

"Dex forced us out with a fan the size of Chaud's limo, only fatter." Lan said, grimacing as he remembered hitting the pavement. Oh what a joyful experience! NOT.

"Wow...He's certainly creative..." Tory decided that his simple half-joking comment would suffice; he didn't want to say what was really on his mind. Beside him, Natalie had fallen asleep, and was currently laid out across the bed, her feet hanging over the side.

"What are we going to do?" Yai inquired, looking around at the large group in the room.

Her answer came from the only person she called an old woman, Maddy. "We have to prepare, of course."

"For what?"

"To fight, duh. What else would we prepare for? A ball in his honor? I don't think the rest of the world would like to see the kid who blew his brains out, do you?"

"Well of course not, old woman. But that doesn't change what you're asking of us. You want us to fight."

"Yes. All of us."

"How?"

"He's going to use Gutsman. You all know that. And with the DA's out nowadays...I'm quite sure that's what he's going to do."

"How do you know?"

"He's an ex World Three. Just like girly over there. They use their navis; it's what we all do." Maddy stated, matter of factly, with Match nodding his head behind her in agreement.

"We just don't know when he's gonna strike." Chaud added on, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Yeah." Maddy replied, nodding with Match this time.

"So now what?" Lan asked, not knowing what all of it meant.

"We wait."

**Four Days Later**

It was a normal day again. The birds were chirping and singing, the sun was shining brightly. And our favorite group was watching it all through the very clean windows of their classroom. What a day. A student came in and handed a small slip of paper to Ms. Mari, who got up and walked into the sea of desks. The student gave a bow to the class and walked out of the door, quietly.

"Tory, please go to the office right now." Ms. Mari walked to Tory's desk and handed him the pass, causing a few of the students to look at her oddly. Tory had never gotten into trouble before, so they knew that wasn't it...Why was he going to the office?

Natalie just smiled as Tory got up, and when Tory smiled back, she knew he wasn't in trouble. She, too, was wondering why Tory was going to the office, but she was sure he'd tell her as soon as he got back.

Ms. Mari went back to the front of the classroom, continuing on with her lesson while Natalie watched the clock. Ten minutes passed by, with Natalie watching, and Tory still wasn't back.

Twenty minutes...

Thirty...

Forty-five minutes and still no Tory.

Natalie was beginning to worry. She glanced at the clock again as finally an hour went by, and then, thirty minutes later, the bell for school to be over rang crystal clear throughout the school.

Was Tory still in the office?

"Nat, Tory's still in the office?" Maylu questioned, saying out loud what Natalie had been thinking in her head.

"I guess so."

"Maybe we should go by the office and make sure he's there." Lan interjected, and Maylu nodded, taking Natalie's arm and walking out of the classroom, to the office. Yai, Lan, and Chaud trailed behind the two girls, glancing around the hallway for anything suspicious. However, there wasn't anything in the hallway that wasn't normal.

That is, until the walked pass Tory's locker and saw the lock missing.

"Whoa, where's Tory's lock?" Lan asked, blinking at the spot where his lock should be.

"I don't...know." Now Natalie was starting to worry. She walked up to the locker and opened it...only to find it dead empty. There was NOTHING in the locker, not even dust.

What was going on?

"Oh my gosh..." Maylu covered her mouth as she realized what was happening. Yai suddenly came to the realization too and then Chaud.

"The only time a locker is this empty and clean is when...a student moves away from this school." Yai stated, trying to keep Natalie calm.

"No, he isn't." Natalie said, not believing her ears. Tory couldn't be moving! He would've told her.

"Yes, he is. That's the only reason why ALL his books are gone, and why his locker is this clean. When a student moves, they have to take all of their stuff out of their locker and clean it."

"He would've told me."

"Nat, maybe he didn't even know...Some parents do that to make it easier on their children."

"But what about our project? What about the baby?"

"The babies were sent in for their weekly check-ups yesterday, remember? We won't get them back until tomorrow."

"...I have to know for myself." Natalie said, and then she took off at a dead run to Tory's house, stopping only to get her bike, so that she would get there faster. She made it to his house in less than 3 minutes and sure enough, right there, in front of Tory's house was a moving truck.

"TORY!!" Natalie shouted, from the sidewalk. She dropped her bike and ran up the steps to Tory's house, where the door opened and there stood Tory, with an extremely sad look on his face. Natalie hugged him, before saying anything and he hugged her back, not speaking. "You can't!"

"Natalie, I just found out today. I'm so sorry."

"Tory, you...can't! We need you here! What if Dex comes? What if-?!"

Tory shook his head and placed his finger on Natalie's lips, hushing her immediately, "If he comes, then I'll come back."

"Well, where are you moving to? Why are you moving? Can't you just live with me?!" Natalie was feeling desperate...She needed Tory there with her! He was the only one who made her feel safe...

"Natalie, you know I can't. That wouldn't look right at all."

"Who cares?! Tory, I don't want you to leave..."

"I know, Natalie and I don't want to leave."

"Then why?"

"My dad's company is expanding, so we have to move to Yumland."

"Yumland?! That's sooo far away!" Natalie was close to crying now. Tory was really leaving her! What was she supposed to do now?

End Chapter 9


	10. Afraid

Being In Love Is Never Easy

By: Sailorjj07

10. Afraid

A/n: Well, I didn't make my goal. I wanted to be done by the time I graduated from high school and dang it all, I'm in college now. Sucks, huh? Anyways, sorry it took me so long to update, but now that I have to write everyday, my creative juices will flow more often and I'm gonna attempt to gear them to my stories. So thank you all for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

Die.

That's what Natalie was supposed to do since Tory left, and that was what she was slowly doing. Everyone could see it on her sleep-deprived face. Everyone knew why she was like that.

And everyone was trying to get her out of it.

"Did Tory die or something? She sure is acting like it. " Yai asked, watching Natalie wave slightly at them as she walked slowly to her locker.

"She looks like she's about to turn into dust, you guys." Maylu commented, watching her as well.

"I think we should do something." Lan said, and walked over to Natalie with a resolute look. He was going to do something about her or Tory would hate him for not helping her.

"Have you tried calling him, Natalie?" Lan leaned against the locker beside Natalie's and gave her a look over. She looked sleepy and sick.

"Yes! She's called him like five times in a row! And every time he picked up and told her he missed her and everything. Lan, she's sick!" Nadalia cried from her PET, making Natalie glare at her and put her navi on mute.

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger. Natalie, you need to break out of this. Now."

"Lan, I'm trying, but I can't. I can't sleep, I can barely eat, and I'm just not happy anymore... I've been trying so hard." Natalie told Lan sadly.

Maylu huffed and walked over to Lan and Natalie, giving her new friend a glare, "Snap out of it!"

And then Maylu slapped her.

Natalie blinked wide, holding her hand to her face. Tears began to pool up in her eyes and then she hugged Maylu tight, crying in earnest.

"I've been trying and he's only been gone for a week, but I feel like I'll never see him again! And he's haunting me now! Dex is haunting me!" Natalie cried, sobbing into Maylu's shoulder.

"That's why she's been acting like that...It isn't only because Tory is gone, it's cause of Dex too." Roll commented sadly. She shook her head and listened to Natalie's sobs, hoping the girl would be all right.

"Why are you just now telling us, Nate? You gotta tell us when stuff like that happens. Call us, scream at us, something. Don't just hold it in. You look dead!" Yai cried, patting the girl's back as she sobbed into Maylu's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I am. I should've told you guys, but Tory was the only one! I only told him and when he left..."

"You still could've told him, Natalie. Didn't he say he would come back?" Chaud was leaning against the wall next to Lan, regarding the girl almost sadly. Yai nodded in agreement and patted Natalie's back again.

"But I didn't want to bother him...I didn't want him to worry."

"And walking around like a zombie isn't going to worry him? I ought to tell Tory you're acting like this," Maylu said, hugging Natalie still. Natalie shook her head fiercely, looking up at her friend.

"No, don't tell him! I'll get better, I promise! I just... Will you guys help me when I get scared?" Natalie questioned the group, sniffling as she looked around at their faces.

"Duh! What're we here for? We're your friends, Nate. Of course, we'll help you when you get scared." Maylu told her, hugging her friend again. She smiled softly at Natalie, as she wiped her face and then let her go.

"Now, let's go to class and let everyone see your pretty smile again. We've missed it, ya know." Maylu grinned at Natalie and looped their arms, leading her down the hall with everyone else walking behind them.

"Ok... Ok." Natalie put a soft smile on her face and found that after an entire week of being sad, smiling was a lot easier.

"That's much better."

**Later**

"So is it normal for the babies to say words now?" Natalie kept grinning at Anastasia as she said Mama over and over. Every time Natalie picked her up, she would say "Mama", but when Maylu held her, the baby was silent.

"I think it's new programming they put in. The babies recognize us now." Maylu's baby girl had been saying it too, and so the girls knew something was up with their babies programming.

"Yeah, that's what Ms. Mari said."

Natalie looked down at her baby girl and smiled at her softly, "Even though your Daddy is gone, he still loves you honey. We'll be a family again eventually..."

The baby cooed at Natalie and she just rocked her, looking up at the area around their tree. The group came and ate here every day and she had been there too, only now she was actually here. For the last week, her mind had been gone, carried off by the gentle breeze that played in her hair.

"Natalie..." There was a soft and gentle call, but at the same time, the sound was scary.

Natalie looked around the area, only seeing her friends in the area. No one appeared to have notice the sound, either, which made Natalie wonder what was going on.

"Natalie...love... come back."

_'What?'_

"My heart and soul... return to me. Let me live... instead of you."

Natalie resisted the urge to scream. Where was the voice coming from? Why did it sound like Dex? Was she going crazy?

"You should've died with me... I could've killed you, I should've killed you. As soon as I had the chance."

_'Shut up! You're just my head making things up! SHUT UP!'_

"Natalie, you fool. I'm Dex."

Natalie felt her body shake involuntarily, and the baby began to make sounds, as if she were going to cry.

"You can hear me because there is a chip in your head. Idiot. Funny thing is, no one will believe you if you tell them. No one, Natalie, because you've acted like a depressed psychopath."

The laughter that rang through Natalie's head was almost deafening and she knew she believed that what Dex said was true. But putting a chip in her head? She wasn't a navi or something to be controlled! Did they know she could die from stuff like that?

And who would care if she did?

Not World 3, apparently.

Natalie resisted the urge to cry and held the baby closer to her, in an attempt to comfort herself.

"I'm going to come for you."

"NO!" Natalie gasped out, managing to be careful with the baby, but still screaming pretty loudly. The group around her all turned their heads immediately, worry running rampant on their faces.

"Nate? What's wrong?" Yai was the first to find her voice before Nadalia echoed Yai's question.

"Ummm, n-nothing. I thought I saw something almost...ummm, get hit. Yeah, I thought I saw someone about to squish that butterfly over there, heh." Natalie faked a laugh and prayed her friends would buy the lie.

And lying she most definitely was.

The group looked at her oddly, but no one said anything, just shrugging and going on with what they were doing.

Natalie figured they probably just thought she was weird. Which was okay as long as she didn't tell them what she had just heard. Dex was right; no one would believe her.

Natalie felt like she was going crazy.

**That Night**

Natalie bolted out of bed, hearing herself scream. She covered her mouth with her pillow as quickly as she could, and looked around to see if Nadalia had heard her.

_'Nope, good...'_

Heaving a sigh at seeing her navi still sleeping, Natalie picked up her empty PET and pulled up the phone program.

She had to call Tory and tell him what was going on. Natalie looked down at her phone and shook her head, putting the PET down, "I can't...I don't want him to worry."

Natalie struggled with herself for a few minutes. She wanted to tell Tory, but she didn't want him to only think she was lying to get him to come back. Natalie may have lied earlier, but she'd never lie to Tory. Ever.

"Maybe I should...No, I can't. What if he does something crazy to come back?"

Natalie realized she was talking to herself as her own voice bounced off of the walls of her dark room. Shaking her head again, Natalie put the PET down and laid back in her bed.

She wasn't going to call him.

"Maybe I can last a little bit longer. If I go back to sleep, I'll dream about something else..."

Natalie knew she was lying to herself, but at the moment she felt like it was the only thing she could do to keep herself from crying about this. Natalie was scared; afraid of the dark and of being alone and of Dex and World 3. She was scared stiff, deathly afraid, and just frightened in general.

But on top of all of that, Natalie was afraid of telling her friends what was wrong with her.

She didn't want anyone to think she was crazy or anything; Natalie knew what would happen if what her friends believed got to her parents. Her mom had already been suggesting a psychiatrist just the other day, making Natalie panic and act as normal as she could.

It wouldn't be such a problem if it wasn't Dex that was talking in her head. Dex, the one that had broken her heart. Dex, who had put a gun to her head and drove her to betray him. Dex, the boy that had been so happy when they first met, but slowly began to use her and manipulate her to his will. Dex was the person in her head because of a "chip" and Dex was the driving force behind all of Natalie's fear. It was all him.

Natalie's eyes popped open when a tree branch scraped softly on her window. She pulled her blankets closer around her and moved herself closer to the wall behind her bed.

"Great, now even trees scare me." Natalie sighed again, sitting up in her bed and moving closer to the corner. She put her head down on her knees and began to hum a tune she had heard on TV. The room was silent as Natalie hummed, and then...

Her PET rang.

Natalie's eyes got huge, as she looked at her PET, wondering who in the world would be calling her at two in the morning. Looking at the number on the screen, she hurriedly pressed the talk button.

"Natalie, why are you still awake?"

It was Tory. Thank God! It was Tory.

Natalie smiled sadly at the face in the box and watched Tory's worried eyes scan her face.

"Natalie, you didn't answer my question."

"Oh. Sorry. I, um, was just thinking about some things, that's all."

"Me too."

Both of them fell silent, and Natalie stared at Tory's thoughtful eyes. He wasn't looking at her, but to the side, like he didn't want to see her eyes just yet.

"Tory, what's the matter?"

"Lan called me today. I was very happy to hear from him."

Natalie resisted the urge to groan. Lan had told on her! "Oh really? What'd he say?"

"That you burst into tears in the middle of the hallway. Natalie, what on earth is going on? What happened that made you cry and how come you haven't been telling me about it?"

Natalie was surprised at the amount of emotion Tory was showing over the phone. He was usually extremely shy about his feelings, but tonight, he seemed really upset that she hadn't told him about her problem.

"Tory, I was going to but-..."

"Natalie, please don't be afraid to tell us things. We're your friends. I'm your friend. We're all here for you."

"I know, but...I was afraid, Tory! Ok? I was scared you all would think I was some crazy mentally ill person and not believe a word I say!" Natalie cried fiercely. She lowered her voice when she remembered what time it was, but she was still upset. Tory didn't understand how it felt...

"Is your hearing bad, Natty?"

"What?"

"You don't listen well. We. Are. Your. Friends. I will be there for you no matter what. You have to tell me if something is wrong, because how else am I supposed to know?"

Natalie nodded, swallowing back her comments. She was going to say something back, but then she saw the truth in Tory's words.

"I know, Tory. I know."

"Natty, if you knew, you would've told me." Tory said back, frowning at the beautiful face on his screen. He watched as a hurt look flashed across her face, but he wasn't saying sorry for what he said. Natalie shouldn't have done that to him...

"I'm sorry."

"Are you, Natalie? Do you honestly mean that?" Tory stared at Natalie's eyes, and for a second, they weren't talking over the PET anymore. It was like she was right there, looking as hurt as the day Dex shot his head off.

"I do. I am honestly sorry. I was afraid to tell you guys, but now I won't be. Even if I don't tell anyone else, whenever I have a problem, I'll always tell you." Natalie told him sincerely. She really didn't want Tory mad at her, and as it appeared, he actually was.

"You promise?"

"Yes. I promise. I do, Tory, I promise. I'll tell you every time I'm unhappy or sad."

"Ok." Tory nodded firmly and allowed a smile to grace his face.

"Just one thing, Tory?"

"What's that, Natty?"

"Promise me...that you'll do the same." Natalie blushed a little at her suggestion. It wasn't like she was asking anything that Tory would have a hard time with, but still...It was blush-worthy.

"I promise, Natalie. Everything you do for me, I'll do for you. And even if you don't, I'll still do everything I can." A serious look crossed Tory's face as he spoke to her over the phone and Natalie couldn't help but feel her blush darken. Tory looked so honest and sincere as he spoke; so truthful in what he was saying to her.

"I wish you were here." The words slipped out of her mouth before she had time to stop them. Natalie looked away from the screen and Tory laughed almost bitterly.

He wished he was there too.

"I do too."

End Chapter 10


	11. Sleeping Is Never Easy

Being in Love Is Never Easy

By: Sailorjj07

11. Sleeping Is Never Easy

A/n: I cannot believe it's taking me this long...I am SOO sorry you guys. I really am. I work on tryna finish this so yall aren't going insane cause of me.

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

There was someone in her room.

Natalie shot up in bed, and looked towards her window. Someone was in her room with her.

"Natalie..."

"Who is it?"

"You know who it is, wench. Why are you talking to him?"

"I can talk to whomever I want. You have no control over me!" Natalie pushed herself further up against the wall and reached behind her. She had a flashlight under her pillow; it was always there.

"I have no control? Hahaha! You wish."

"Shut up!" Natalie reached for her flashlight and flicked it on with a click, her eyes widening as she saw Dex.

"Surprised? You shouldn't be."

Natalie shuddered as "Dex" took a step closer to her bed, and fought the urge to faint. Something was so very wrong with this picture.

"You're not real."

"You're joking right? Of course I'm real."

"You killed yourself!"

"And I came back from the dead." His smirk was toothy; was he a vampire or something now?

"This is all just a dream!"

"Natalie, why are you trying to convince yourself, honey?"

"Shut up!"

"Come here."

"No, get away from me!" Natalie was pressed up against the wall behind her bed now, resisting the urge to scream. She knew her voice was getting louder and louder, but at this point she didn't really care.

And where was Nadalia? Surely she would've woken up by now.

"No! No! No! No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"Natalie! NATALIE, WAKE UP!"

Nadalia pressed her face to the computer screen, and tried to see as far into the corner of Natalie's room as she could. Natalie was thrashing about from side to side, bumping her head against the wall and nearly screaming. Nadalia knew Mom would hear her soon, and she didn't know if it would be good for her to find her.

"Natalie, please! I know you can hear me!"

Nadalia watched as some of Natalie's shaking calmed, but knew that if someone didn't wake her soon, she would go right back to where she was.

Nadalia knew she had to take extreme measures.

"Natalie, help is on the way...I promise."

**The Next Day**

He was in every corner. Every single corner that Natalie looked in, she saw him; she saw Dex waiting for her, laughing at her, and taunting her. It was all she ever thought about these days, and she jumped at the slightest noise.

"Nate?"

Natalie jumped slightly and then turned grinning sheepishly at Maylu. Lan gave her an odd look as he stood near them, with his arm around Maylu.

"Heh. Ummm, yes?"

"What's up?"

Natalie laughed nervously, "Nothing much. I was just about to start on my homework actually."

"Your homework? Nate, its freakin' lunchtime. You're kidding, right?" Lan couldn't believe it. Who would do homework earlier than it was needed?

"No, Lan. I'm a little behind since my little episode and I don't like that."

Maylu looked at Yai and both girls looked at her skeptically. Finally, Yai spoke up, "Natalie, are you eating right?"

"What? Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be eating right?"

"Oh, I dunno cause you're depressed?" Yai gave Natalie a disapproving look before handing her half of her bento box. "Eat, Natalie. And don't tell me no or I'll be angry with you."

Natalie chuckled nervously, "You wouldn't really get angry at me, would you?"

"Yes I would. Now eat!" Yai pointed at the food in front of Natalie and waited for her to start, handing her chopsticks too.

"Ok, ok. I'm eating, sheesh."

Natalie picked over the food, eating the wieners first before she moved onto the curry and fruit. Yai sat and watched her eat it, until all of the food was gone. Then she took the empty tray away from her, satisfied with Natalie's performance.

"Good. Now you can work on your homework, if you really want to."

Natalie shook her head, "No, that's ok." The purple eyed girl looked away from her friends' faces, pushing her hair out of her face before heaving a loud sigh.

"Where's Nadalia?"

Natalie looked down at her empty PET, tempted to sigh all over again. "She had to go run errands for Mom or something like that. I tried to ask Mom exactly what it was, but Mom wasn't at home when I left for school."

"Has she said anything to you since she left?"

"Nope, but I'm not too worried. Nadalia's a strong girl; she can almost take care of herself."

"Almost?" Maylu asked, bouncing her baby girl up and down on her knee.

"Yes almost, because everyone could use help from their friends," Natalie said, smiling widely at the group around her. Each one nodded (except Chaud, of course) and Maylu hugged her newest friend.

"You're definitely learning, Natty. You're definitely learning."

**That Night**

Natalie wished she could definitely learn how to sleep without screaming to wake her parents. Natalie found herself in the same position as she was the night before, except this time her flashlight was already on, and she shined the beam in every corner she heard a single sound it. She was going to catch him coming into her room.

"I know you're out there." Natalie whispered to herself, pushing herself into spot on her bed that was farthest away from the window. She shined her light back and forth, from one window to the next, and at both doors.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

This time he was sitting on the edge of her bed, mocking her as she shined the flashlight on him. He didn't even budge, but Natalie could feel his weight sitting on her covers. Natalie covered her mouth to keep from screaming, sitting rigid as she could.

"You won't take me alive."

"What're you gonna do? Kill yourself? I've done that before and trust me; it doesn't hurt after your dead."

"Go away!"

"But why? I want to be close to you, Natalie..." His voice was convincing and scary; Natalie could hear every breath he took as he sat on her bed.

"No! I don't want you near me! NO! STAY AWAY!"

"Natalie! Natalie, calm down!" The rushed whisper was calming almost, but the hand over her mouth made her scream all over again.

"Natalie! Honey! Stop screaming. Its ok, Natty. It's ok."

Two arms wrapped around her and pulled her into a solid chest...and the scent reminded her so much of Tory it was abnormal.

"It's alright. I'm here now. I'm right here, ok? Everything will be alright." Natalie could feel tears coming to her eyes. Even the voice sounded like Tory, but she knew it was only a dream. A bad dream gone good, but still a dream nonetheless.

Tears pooled in her eyes, spilling down her cheeks like miniature rivers and still Natalie refused to open them. She was afraid to wake up; afraid to realize that this wasn't real either.

The person began to rock her slowly, from side to side, running hands through her hair and down her back, over and over again.

"Shhhh, its ok, Natty. I'm here. It's ok."

Natalie continued to cry because she knew this wasn't real. She knew no one was actually making her feel better and that fact alone scared her almost as much as seeing Dex did.

"Open your eyes, Natty. Look at me." The rocking stopped, and the voice near her ear moved slightly further away. With a slight whimper at being removed from her comfort, Natalie opened her eyes, still wanting to cry.

But what she saw brought another type of tears to her eyes.

"Tory." It was a soft, breathless whisper, and more tears began to stream down the young girl's face. Natalie cried in earnest, pushing herself against Tory so that there was no space between them as she cried all over him.

And all he did was smile and rub her back, speaking only a few comforting words now and again.

Natalie had no idea how Tory got there or how long he would be there for, but one thing Natalie did know...

She was glad to have Tory back.

End Chapter 11


	12. The Fall

Being In Love Is Never Easy

By: Sailorjj07

12. The Fall

A/n: THANKS FOR REVIEWING!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"Tory, how-?"

"Does that matter?"

The exchange was short and sweet. Natalie shook her head, hugging Tory again and burying her face in his neck. He laughed as a blush rushed across his face, putting his arms around her.

"Nadalia told me you needed me. And remember, I told you if you ever needed me, I'd be back."

"Are you staying?"

Natalie was ever-tactful, huh? Tory moved away from her a little bit, so he could give Natalie a very serious look.

Then as a smile broke across his face, he nodded, "Yes. Unless you don't want me to?"

Natalie's smile grew and she thought she would cry all over again, "Don't want you to?! Tory, are you kidding? Of course I want you to!"

"Well that's good. When you're mom offered me the room across the hall, I was a little worried you didn't want me there." Tory laughed, sheepishly.

"I'm upset that you would even think that!" Natalie hugged him tighter, leaning her cheek against his. She smiled and whispered in his ear, "If I had my way, you'd always be here."

Tory blushed, before coughing slightly, deciding now would be a good time to ask Natalie about her current condition, "So... you can see him?"

Natalie immediately sobered up, "Yes. He...Tory, he told me that while I was in World Three, he had a chip put into my brain."

"What? Did you tell your Mom about that?"

"No. While I was in World Three, she and I were fighting; I had ran away from home to join them."

_'So that's why her mom is so accepting and nice...She's afraid of losing her daughter again.' _Tory couldn't help but wonder how he would act in Natalie's mom' s shoes... probably the same way.

"We need to go see Lan's Dad." Tory stated, after thinking for a moment.

"Lan's Dad? But he's a scientist. What can he do?" Natalie questioned, her violet eyes curious and unsure.

"Help you. I'm sure he can check and see if there is really a chip in your brain or if its something else." Tory looked around the room in the darkness, wondering where the baby was. But not even two seconds after the thought crossed his mind, Tory heard a soft gurgle coming from a corner of the room. He got up, walking over to the crib that was usually near Natalie's bed. He wondered if she had moved the baby in the corner to keep her away from "Dex".

"I was...afraid for her. I didn't want Dex to see her and do something bad..." Natalie said, watching as Tory picked the baby up. The little one moved around, lifelike as ever, and giggled happily at him.

"At least she remembers me."

"Of course. She was a little fussy when you were gone, though. I told her you had to go away for work."

"If these babies weren't so real, I'd tell you how silly you just sounded." Tory smiled, going back to Natalie's bed to sit next to her. Natalie moved so that she was laying next to the wall, so Tory would have room to sit-up and play with Anastasia.

"Ok, close your eyes. I'm going to turn your lamp on."

Tory touched the switch, turning on the lamp. When he turned to look at Natalie, what he saw nearly broke his heart for two reasons.

With her eyes closed, Natalie's face was breathing-taking in the soft lamplight. But she looked so sick and sad - Natalie had tear-stains running down her cheeks, complete with dark circles under her eyes. Her hair was disheveled and in such a disarray, Tory wondered if she had been thrashing while tossing and turning.

"Don't open your eyes yet," he whispered, moving Anastasia to his shoulder so he would have a free hand. Tory reached out, running his hand through Natalie's hair so that it was all going in one direction, at least. Then, with his hand shaking, Tory's hand made a path from her hair to her face, wiping the few remaining tears away. Finally, his hand rested on her cheek, his thumb caressing it softly.

Tory was upset that Natalie hadn't told anyone she was going through this. And he was even more upset that he hadn't seen it himself.

His hand pressed into her face more firmly, but his caress was still soft.

Natalie opened her eyes, and when she saw Tory's eyes in the dim light, her heart skipped a beat.

Tory really was a cute guy. At the moment, as he looked at her seriously with care and concern, Natalie knew he was determined to help her.

"Iceman!"

Both Natalie and Tory turned their heads toward the computer screen where Nadalia had knocked Iceman over, hugging him tightly.

"Hiya toots! How are you?" Iceman said from the floor, as Nadalia nuzzled her face in his chest. She was speaking nearly incoherently; the only understandable phrase was: "I missed you!"

"I missed you too. Didn't you know I was coming with Tory?" Iceman stood up as Nadalia finally got off of him, watching her grin widely.

"Well no. Remember, when I came to get Tory I told him to get ready to leave as soon as he could. You were gone with Papa when I came over." Nadalia told him, matter-of-factly.

"Oh yeah, you're right!" Iceman put his arms around Nadalia, resting his cheek against Nadalia's as he spoke, a smile spreading contagiously across his face, "Well, I'm here too!"

"I know! I'm so happy!" Nadalia smiled happily, at then turned to Natalie, "Did you like my surprise for you?"

"I love it. Thank you so much, Nadalia. You're the best navi any OP could ever wish for."

Nadalia nodded as her face got serious, "Now get better. I brought Tory all the way here to help you. So don't let me hear you crying anymore. I'm afraid I won't be able to take it, if you do."

Natalie nodded, trying to keep her composure. Nadalia was truly a great friend. She had let her cry at night, without telling anyone, and when it had become too much for her to handle, she got help for Natalie.

"I promise, she'll be much better within the week," Tory added, smiling at both girls. Both navi and OP smiled back at the young man, before Nadalia gave another cry and glomped Iceman again. He laughed, enjoying Nadalia's excitement and happiness.

"Promise me you'll never go away again!" Nadalia cried, and Iceman chuckled again, before giving Nadalia a firm nod.

"I never went away, Nadalia. What am I promising you?"

"You did too! What do you mean?"

Iceman's face was serious as he sat-up, making Nadalia fall into his lap. He looked down at the female navi he adored, before looking past her, at his Op's serious face, "I mean, me and Tory were never really away from you guys. We might have moved, but we wanted to be here for you as much as we could. That's why we sent so many e-mails and called all the time."

"But that didn't stop us from wanting to be here, with you guys." Tory agreed, nodding at his navi. Iceman was getting better at understanding him and the girls in their lives. He was proud of him.

"So...we kind of asked Mom and Dad if it was ok for us to live here...Even AFTER you get better."

"REALLY?!" Both girls said at the same time, an expression of joy mixed with shock on their faces.

"Yup. Once you're better, Yai told us we can go stay with her, and during the summer, I'll go back home to Mom and Dad."

"But the summer's five months away!"

"I'm sure you could find a way to be able to come home with me, Natalie." Tory said, uncharacteristically winking at Natalie. Natalie nodded mutely, surprised at the playfulness and flirtatious attitude she saw from Tory. He hadn't been like that before.

"Anyways, we should go to bed. We still have school tomorrow." Tory told her, while he took Anastasia back to her crib. The baby had long since fallen asleep on his shoulder, and he rolled the crib back near Natalie's bed.

"Oh wait..." Blushing in embarrassment, Natalie slowly slid something off under her covers, before reaching down and removing them. Tory was slightly worried until he saw his ice blue sleeping bag appear; he had been looking for it when they moved.

"I knew I had left it here!" Tory exclaimed, smiling as he thankfully took his sleeping bag from Natalie. He zipped it up like normal, before climbing in himself. Natalie settled back into her bed beside him, and she blushed when Tory put his arm around her softly.

"Go to sleep, Natalie."

"Good night, Tory."

"Night, Natty."

**The Next Morning**

"Natttaaaallliiieeeee!! Toorrrrrryyyyyyyyy!! Wake up you two!"

Tory watched Natalie's lovely face as she groaned loudly. He chucked to himself when she rolled over and covered her head with her blanket, muttering something about her Mom's voice.

"Natalie...It's time to get up," Tory told her quietly. He pulled the blankets from over her head, gently smoothing out her hair as he did so.

Natalie woke up at his touch, but kept her eyes closed with a yawn: "Tory, I don't wanna get up..."

Tory grinned and leaned down, until his mouth was directly beside Natalie's ear. Then with a soft, slow breath, Tory whispered in her ear: "Natalieeeeee...wake up, honey."

"I'm up, Tory. I'm up." And she was. Natalie sat up in bed with a bright blush running rampant across her face. Tory found a blush burning a path on his own face, and tried to suppress it.

"Is it ok if I take a shower first, Nate?" Tory asked, slipping out of the bed. Natalie nodded, still trying to hide the blush on her face. Without another word Tory gathered his things and headed into the bathroom.

"Nadalia, Iceman, wake up! We've got a busy day today you guys!" Natalie smiled as she pressed a key on her keyboard and booted up her computer. She saw the two navis sleeping and rolled her eyes. Then with the loudest voice she could muster: "WAKE UP!"

Both navis jumped up at Natalie's voice, scrambling to obey the girl. Iceman, after realizing who it was, glared at the screen.

"You didn't have to wake us up like that!"

"I agree!" Nadalia added, glaring as well. Natalie just laughed at the two navis, walking over to her closet to plan her outfit for the day. It only took her about ten minutes - she grabbed a purple and blue shirt with a hood, then took a lilac tank top out the drawer to wear underneath it. Her blue jeans were already ironed and hung up on a hanger, so she took them down and placed the entire pile on her bed.

By the time she was gathering all of her undergarments, Tory was out of the shower with a towel around his neck and his brown hair was dark and dripping.

"Hey Natalie, the bathroom's open if-! Whoa!"

Natalie, who hadn't heard Tory come out of the bathroom, was totally startled as Tory walked towards here. The girl screamed and everything in her hands flew up, tossing her undergarments and socks into the air in her fright.

Natalie whirled around and nearly fainted from embarrassment as her panties fell at Tory's feet. Her violet eyes stared at the spot on the floor, which attracted Tory's eyes downward, and as soon as he saw the lacy pink items on the floor, his eyes immediately diverted upward.

"Uhhhh ummmmmm, I...ummmmm..." Tory's face was getting redder and redder as each second went by, while Natalie, in a rush, scooped up all her belongings from her bed. She practically threw everything into the bathroom, then turned around to collect the rest of her belongings. Natalie failed to realized that Tory's hair had been making the carpet slightly damp and in her hurry, she ran directly into the small wet spot while attempting to grab her panties quickly.

This caused Natalie to slip and go careening into Tory, who had been trying his darnedest to stay in one spot and look another direction. He had wanted to keep Natalie from being totally embarrassed, but as the two of them fell to the floor in front of the bathroom door, he realized there would be no way to save the situation.

"Ahh!" Natalie cried as they went down, which made Tory push his arms out against her shoulders. He was hoping to keep her from falling painfully to the floor, but all that did was accidentally tap her wrist which made her involuntarily throw her panties...They were tossed into the bathroom, thankfully.

"Ya know, any other time, Natalie would not have such accuracy," Nadalia commented, as the two teens stared at each other. A blush was on both of their faces, but neither wanted to move or look away.

"Shh. If we talk too much, they'll move." Iceman whispered, as he moved to a better vantage point.

"Tory, I-!"

"Natalie, I-!"

The two teens realized they were both about to speak at the same time, and decided against talking completely. Tory began to move from underneath Natalie, in a way that said he was trying to get them out of their current..position.

But Natalie moved at the same time, and that brought them even closer to each other. The rosy blush on their faces brightened, but it went unnoticed by them both.

As Natalie stared in Tory's slate gray eyes, she felt her own sliding shut slowly. In one gentle move, Tory kissed her.

It was as simple as that one movement, but it was so much more complex than Natalie had ever imagined a kiss from Tory to be. It burned her, it made her heart stop and it made her understand Tory better, all at once. It was such a sharp sensation...It made Natalie feel like she had swallowed a handful of dry ice. Even her throat burned as her arms came around Tory's neck; the fact that his hair was wet completely escaping her.

And it was the same way for Tory. He could feel his entire heart ready to explode as his arms went around Natalie's waist and if he could, Tory would've pressed Natalie further into himself. She was so warm, as her fingers found their way into his wet hair, and he couldn't resist kissing her harder.

The two forgot they need to breathe.

Natalie was the first to pull away, gasping for air without realizing it. Tory followed suit, but as soon as Natalie had gotten enough of breathing, she sought his mouth again, barely wasting a second to kiss him. This time she was slightly more aggressive, pressing her mouth against his in a way that demanded he kiss her back. Which he did, of course, but why wouldn't he?

The need to breathe came back, and the two moved their faces away from each other, staring at one another once again.

"Natalie..." Tory began, but his words were cut off. He was too breathless to continue.

Natalie didn't even try to speak. She couldn't because her mouth was entirely too thankful for the air. Natalie wasn't however; if she could die kissing Tory, she would, without a problem.

"Nate, you umm...We h-have to eat b-breakfast soon." He couldn't think of anything else to say, but he figured that would help them move away from each other...He didn't want to, but it helped.

The situation had gone to Hell and came back to Earth, but soon it went to Heaven and above.

"Y-you're right," Natalie said, softly. Her voice came out rushed, since she was still trying to breathe and get her heart back in control. The two nodded at each other and Natalie slowly got up, with Tory following her directly after. Then they separated, Natalie walking into the bathroom and Tory going to the bed.

"Well! That was interesting!" Iceman said loudly with a grin. Tory, who had been staring off into space, looked up quickly, suddenly realizing that both navis had seen the entire thing. Tory became Cherry in name and in face, because the young man was so very red, Iceman wondered if he was sick for a moment.

"You can't-! Do NOT tell anyone about that!" Tory cried, in near horror that the navis had witnessed had witness his first full, all-out kiss. The one at the movies had been a tiny little peck, something he had done only to distract Natalie. This one had been the real deal though!

"What? Why not? You should tell EVERYONE about that! You and Natalie are officially together!" Nadalia said, grinning widely at Tory's red face.

"How? I didn't ask her to be my girlfriend or anything and we've never even been on a date alone together..." Tory looked down at the towel on his lap with a sigh. He had always wanted to ask Natalie to go out on a date with him, but with her current problems...Not to mention, the last time they went out, Lan and Maylu had shown up and joined them.

"So ask her! Ask her today!" Nadalia proposed, doubting that Natalie would have any problem with it at all.

"But...What if she-?"

"Tory, she won't! Natalie likes you! A lot! Geez, get some confidence!" The female navi told him, with a glare. Tory nodded and dried his hair off, then folded the towel and placed it on the edge of Natalie's bed.

"Confidence, confidence." He said over and over to himself, as he walked out of the room. Shortly after, Natalie peaked her head out of the bathroom door, wondering if Tory was still there. She saw only his towel and the two navis, and figured he had already went down for breakfast.

With her own, light purple towel around her neck, Natalie strode out of the bathroom fully dressed. Nadalia winked at her as she walked by the computer to get her earrings, but was promptly ignored by her Net Op.

"Nat, don't be that way!"

"You were watching!"

"Oh so what? It was just a little fall."

"It was so NOT JUST a little fall! I can't believe you're taking this so lightly!" Natalie cried, storming to her door. She opened it with a huff and then slammed it quickly.

"Geez, what's her problem?" Iceman asked, shaking his head in disapproval. Natalie didn't have to get mad.

"Oh, she's just embarrassed. Very embarrassed." Nadalia replied, with a smirk.

"Think they would be even more so if we posted a video on the Net about this?"

"Oooohh! You wouldn't!" Nadalia laughed mischievously, as did Iceman beside her.

"Ahh, I would, toots, but the camera angle is horrible. Too bad, though. That little fall was probably the best thing that could happen to them."

Nadalia opened her mouth to say something, but Anastasia cute giggle was louder then her. The navi grinned despite herself, "Apparently, the baby thinks so too."

End Chapter 12


	13. The Cure

Being In Love Is Never Easy

By: Sailorjj07

13. A Cure

A/n: Hi everyone! Come on, don't tell me you DON'T know what this chappy is about, lol. I totally had to go back and re-edit the last chapter, because I forgot about the fact that Natalie and Tory had not only gone on a date before, but they had kissed before too! So, I kinda had to go through and make sure I made proper references and such in Chapter 12. They're just small edits, though, nothing really big. I just have bad memory, lol. THANKS FOR REVIEWING!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"Is this the right place?" Natalie was staring up at the huge building in shock. Why did it look so different from the last time she had been here? The most shocking thing was the huge word sculpture out in front. Natalie knew that hadn't been there before.

"Nate, don't you remember coming here to see Lan's Dad last time?" Tory turned to watch Natalie's reaction to the building. He nearly felt the same because it really had changed, but she had to remember coming here before.

"Well yeah, but...it looks so different." She commented, walking up the new stair-walkway. Tory followed suit, then turned at the last minute toward the ramp. He was not pushing a stroller up all of those stairs. No sir.

"You're right. I wonder when they did all this?" Nadalia asked from her place inside Natalie's PET. She could see the entire new layout and was slightly surprised. The SciLab made this much money? Goodness.

"Dad says they've been working on this for about a month. It's been done for about two days now!"

Natalie stopped mid-step and turned to find Lan and Maylu walking behind them. Maylu was on the ramp with Tory, pushing her baby's stroller.

"Lan? Maylu? What're you guys doing here?" Natalie questioned, smiling at them both.

"Running errands for Mom. Dad forgot his lunch so we're bringing it up to him." Lan said, catching up to Natalie. He began to walk in step with her, with a wide smile.

"Hehe. That makes sense."

"I take it you two are here to see Dad?"

"Yes...We're trying to solve my problem." Here, Natalie trailed off a bit and looked away from Lan's smiling face. She knew she hadn't told them about her current problem and she was in for a firm chewing out as soon as they found out what was going on.

"You're problem? Natalie, what's wrong?" Maylu called, from her spot behind Tory and Anastasia. Natalie looked up at Tory, to see if he would answer for her, but his silence said everything.

"Can I tell you once we get inside? I'm afraid I'll be out of breath after all these stairs!" Natalie smiled sheepishly and both Lan and Maylu nodded; it was understandable.

"Aren't you two surprised to see Tory and Iceman?" Nadalia made sure her sound was turned all the way up so that everyone could hear her, and her question was answered with laughs from Lan, Maylu, Megaman, and Roll.

"We already knew he was coming! He told us before he left and when he got here. Surprise!" Roll cried, giggling happily. It had been so hard keeping it a secret too!

"Roll's right. We've known for a while now." Megaman added, chuckling some himself.

"Well, wow...I don't know if I should be mad or happy! You guys kept it a secret from me this whole time?"

"We didn't want you to worry about us at all. We were afraid that if you knew Tory was coming, you wouldn't get better the right way." Maylu told Natalie softly. Maylu's face looked sad, but her eyes were bright and hopeful.

"Get better the right way? What do you mean, Maylu?"

"We were worried you would try to cover up what was wrong so that Tory wouldn't worry about you...Like you had done with the rest of us..."

"Oh Maylu..." Natalie waited until Tory walked past her with Anastasia's stroller before she hugged her friend. Maylu was trying so hard to help without smothering her, she knew. "Thank you so much for being my friend. I love you guys!"

"As long as you love Lan the same way you love me, hehe. I love you too, Nate. Now let's go talk to Dad and see what's going on in that pretty head of yours!" Maylu said, hugging Natalie back tightly. Then she let her go, following Lan and Tory to the elevators.

**In Mr. Hikari's Office**

"So what brings you all here today?" Lan's Dad was sitting at his desk, looking at his computer screen for a moment before he turned and faced the group of teens in front of him.

"Dad you forgot your lunch. Again." Lan said, smirking at his father as he handed him a three-tier bento box.

"Oh, did I? Hahaha, was your mother angry?" Dr. Hikari asked, taking the box from his son with a smile. He placed it on his desk and faced the group once again.

"Nah, not really. She just told me to bring it to you and remind you that dinner is at 7."

"Of course! I'll be home a little before 7, then. Is there anything else I can help you guys with today?"

This time Tory spoke up, "Well, Mr. Hikari, we were wondering if you could...take a look at Natalie."

Dr. Hikari's eyes landed on Natalie and he lifted an eyebrow in curiosity, "Is something wrong, young lady? There aren't any complications with those old injuries, are there?"

Natalie opened her mouth to speak, but the embarrassed blush running across her face said it all. Natalie felt like her throat was closing up and knew she wouldn't be able to talk in length with Lan's Dad...It was just too much.

So Tory spoke for her, "No sir. She's just been having visions lately...Or rather, nightmares. She keeps seeing Dex."

"The young man who shot himself in the head about a year ago?"

Lan winced visibly and nodded at his father, "Yeah Dad, him. He and Natalie used to be really close and they used to work together too."

"Oh? So what has he been saying to you Natalie?"

Natalie swallowed and forced herself to talk. If not, she wouldn't get better. "He told me that I had a chip in my brain that would allow me to see him even after his death. He said that he was really alive and that if he wanted to, he could control me using the chip."

"He said he put a chip in your brain? Are you aware that's against the law?" Dr. Hikari's face grew gravely serious. Where had this girl worked?

"Well, sir, I did work for World Three?"

Dr. Hikari blinked in surprise, "World Three? Oh my. Well, no wonder he threatened you with things like that." Turning around in his chair, Dr. Hikari shook his mouse and clicked on a few icons on his computer screen. He typed in some things and then nodded, before putting the computer to sleep.

"Well have to do a scan to see if there are any foreign objects in there. Do you remember any procedure like that occurring? Do you have frequent headaches or anything of that sort?" Dr. Hikari began walking and the group of four followed him down a pure white tiled hallway. Lan waved at various people in their offices, as did Maylu, but Tory and Natalie walked straight forward, keeping their eyes ahead of them.

Finally they reached a room, with a huge machine and a dark room in front of it. Dr. Hikari ushered Lan and Maylu into the room, making sure that both babies were in the dark room with them. Tory went into the room with the machine with Natalie and Dr. Hikari.

"Ok, Natalie, I need you to lay down on this table right here. You'll have to put both of these on too, before you can go in there." Dr. Hikari handed Natalie a hospital gown and a pair of dark colored goggles. With everyone's back turned, Natalie changed into the gown and put the goggles on, before she lay down on the table.

"You guys can turn-n around now." Natalie told everyone loudly, and they all uncovered their eyes and did so. Tory watched Natalie's hands on the table and could see her visibly shaking. She was scared and nervous.

"Natalie...don't worry." Tory told her, walking to the table. He took hold of Natalie's hand and leaned down by her ear, smiling warmly as he whispered to her, "When this is over, I'll take you out on a date with me, ok?"

Natalie face flushed bright red and she looked up at Tory in surprise, "A-A date? Really?"

"Yep. So be strong, honey. You can do this." Tory pressed a soft, quick kiss into her cheek before he straightened up and followed Dr. Hikari into the dark room with the others.

"Natalie, lie very still, alright? This shouldn't hurt, but if it does, press the red button that'll be directly above your head."

"OK!" Natalie called out, as the table slowly, slid back inside the huge machine. It made a whirling sound as it came to life and soon, big circles were overlapping each other and scanning Natalie from head to food. She lay perfectly still and closed her eyes; even with the goggles, the light was bright.

Ten minutes passed before the machine was done and soon Natalie was sliding back out into the room, wanting to get off the table.

"Natalie, we're going back to my office. Get dressed and we'll talk about these results." Dr. Hikari was looking down at a long sheet of paper and barely paying attention to Natalie's response. He was out of the door in an instant with Maylu and Lan following, both pushing a stroller. Tory stayed in the dark room, waiting for Natalie.

"Tory, turn around!" Natalie cried, already starting to unbutton the back of the dress.

"Ok, ok!" Tory turned his back to the dark windows and covered his eyes, so he wouldn't be tempted to peek. Not that he was that kind of guy, but it was Natalie after all...

"'I'm done! Let's go!" Natalie cried, walking into the dark room and grabbing Tory's hand. They both took off at a run down the hallway.

**In Dr. Hikari's Office (Again)**

"Natalie, the only thing I'm finding are traces of some sort of gas." Dr. Hikari stared at the results and wrote a few things in pen on the paper, before he looked back up at Natalie.

"Gas? What kind of gas?"

"Well, that, I'm not totally sure of. I'm wondering if this gas is giving you some kind of hallucinations. That could be the only thing I can think of."

"There's gas like that, Dad?" Lan asked, slightly curious about it too. He had never heard of that before.

"Yes. There's been some testing of it too, here at the SciLab. We call it Nightmare Gas. It makes people see what they are the most afraid of." Dr. Hikari ran his fingers through his hair as he read over the results one last time, before he dropped the paper down on his desk.

"You guys are testing it on people?" Maylu questioned, nearly horrified. They can't be testing it on people!

"Oh no. We only do human testing unless they volunteer themselves. And they're paid for every test as well as possible side effects. It's a pretty nice paycheck, but sometimes the cost is too much. No one's ever died from our testing though."

"So have there been any human test subjects for this Nightmare Gas?"

"Hmmm, now that, I'm not too sure of. I don't believe so, but I don't exactly work in that department." Dr. Hikari reached for a little notepad that his name and title at the top. He pulled one off and wrote on it quickly, handing it to Natalie. "On the third floor, three doors to the right, directly off the elevator is Dr. Rose's office. She is probably the most knowledgeable person on this subject."

Natalie took the note with a nod and with a small wave; the group of four took off to Dr. Rose's office.

**In Dr. Rose's Office**

"Oh my, it's Lan Hikari! You're such a cutie-pie! Every time I see you, I just want to eat you up!"

Dr. Rose was a rather plump woman, but she was incredibly sweet. The three watched as she practically smothered Lan in her breasts, while he gasped and sputtered for breath.

"And is that little Maylu? I haven't seen you in nearly a year! How you've grown!"

Natalie and Tory had to cover their mouths to hold in their laughter as Maylu replaced Lan between the woman's breasts. Finally, she let the pink haired girl go.

"What can I do for you lovely teens today?" Dr. Rose's office was had flowers everywhere and big, plump couches that the group sat on, facing her desk.

"We came to see if you could tell us about the Nightmare Gas." Natalie told her seriously, handing Dr. Rose the note from Dr. Hikari.

"O-Oh my! You have been exposed to it, darling?! Oh, how horrible!" Dr. Rose was near hysterics as she read the note from Lan's dad. As soon as she read the note, she reached out and grabbed Natalie's hand.

"You, child, will need to be treated right away. Come with me, now. You others stay right here!"

Tory stood up, "Can I at least stand outside the room?!"

Dr. Rose stopped in mid-step, turning to look at Tory's face. He looked really worried and she knew without a doubt that he and the girl she was dragging along were involved with one another. It was written all over their faces.

"Yes, yes, child, but hurry along! We have to get this out of her body, right away!"

**Twenty Minutes Later**

"Continue to take slow deep breaths into the mask, Natalie, darling. We're almost finished!" Dr. Rose had a huge smile on her face as she said this, while she wrote more on the clipboard in front of her.

"Where's Tory?" Natalie asked, between breaths.

"He's been outside the door this entire time, darling. He won't leave your side!" Dr. Rose winked and stood up, finally removing the mask from Natalie's face. Natalie sat up slowly, immediately feeling different. The room seemed brighter, somehow and she was hopeful.

"How are you feeling, sweetie?"

"Better. Much better."

Dr. Rose clapped her hands, grinning happily, "Well that is always good news. Now, let's go back to my office so I can explain this to you in detail. I'm sure your young man's legs could use the break too."

**In Dr. Rose's Office**

"The Nightmare Gas is a weapon of biological warfare. Some Corp. created it about two years ago, for the military. But it was declared unethical so the cooperation and the gas was supposed to be burned to the ground and disposed off." Dr. Rose took a sip of her tea, before she continued, giving the teens an encouraging smile to drink their tea as well.

"From what I've heard and this might not be completely true...The last dose was given to an underground group called the World Three. But their location had been discovered after that one young man had killed himself, so all of it was destroyed as well..."

"World Three had some there?" Lan asked, sipping his tea, but still watching Dr. Rose.

"Yes, that's why I'm so curious as to how this young lady was exposed. And if she was exposed at that time why was it only making itself known now? The only thing I can think of is a recent exposure."

"How recent?" Tory questioned, placing his tea down on the coffee table. He wanted to focus on the problem at hand.

"For the effects to be showing up just now, the longest length of time I've ever witnessed was two months. Any longer than that and it would've been out of your system already or passed on to someone else. And since none of you are having hallucinations, then I know it hasn't spread."

_'The church!' _Was the first thought in Tory's mind as she named the amount of time it took?

"So do I need to do anything else now that I'm clean of it?" Natalie hadn't touched her tea - she was entirely too worried.

"Nope! We gave you the vaccine, so you're cured! No more problems! The world should already appear brighter to you than it was yesterday!" Dr. Rose said to Natalie, gleefully. Natalie nodded then downed her entire cup of tea in one swallow. Dr. Rose clapped in her amusement, very glad to be of help.

"Now I have much work to do! With that blood sample you gave me, I can perform lots of tests! That's your payment for my services too! Off with you!" Dr. Rose cheerfully shooed the group away, turning to the paperwork on her desk. Each teen said a tanks and a goodbye, before they all left to pack themselves into the elevator.

**An Hour Later**

"Ah! I'm so full!" Natalie patted her stomach as Mr. Match handed the group their bill. Maddy sat at the booth behind them, counting out her tips for the day.

"Me too!" Lan agreed, happily.

"Gosh, Natalie, you totally have a boy's stomach. I thought you and Lan were competing!" Maylu exclaimed, earning a nod from Tory.

"I guess I just haven't been eating as much as I should...That whole seeing Dex thing murdered my appetite. And all the food just looked so good, I couldn't stop myself!" Natalie was telling the truth. She had been starving as Match but the large bowl of curry in front of her. But that wasn't enough, she had order another large bow, and a small bowl of noodles. Then she had some ice cream to top it all off.

_'Food is great...Why doesn't it feel like I've eaten in weeks? Goodness.'_

"You're probably just relieved." Tory said softly to Natalie. She nodded and took a spoonful of his curry, winking at him as she put the spoon in her mouth. Tory blushed and then began laughing as Natalie started to fan her mouth.

"AHH! IT'S SO HOT!! WHOOAA!!" Natalie gulped down her iced tea as quickly as she could, hoping to calm her mouth down. By the time she reached the bottom of the cup, her whole face was flushed red.

"HAHAHAHAA!! Natalie, you know Tory eats spicy stuff!" Nadalia cried from her PET, rolling on the floor in laughter at her OP.

"I didn't know it was THAT hot!"

"That was the Atomic spice curry," Mr. Match said, trying not to laugh himself.

"A-Atomic spice? Tory, how can you take that?!"

Tory shrugged and ate another spoonful with a smile, "It just isn't hot to me."

"Ice runs in his veins. That's why Iceman is his navi." Lan whispered across the table to Natalie. She nodded as if she agreed, then giggled sheepishly as Tory gave her a somewhat stern look.

"Tory, we have to go home in a little while if we want to stay on schedule." Iceman said, seriously from his PET. Tory nodded and finished off his curry, then looked at the bill from Match and handed him the money.

"W-Whoa, Tory, this is almost ten zenny over, are you sure you want to-?" Mr. Match said, but he didn't get an answer; Tory and Natalie were already out the door.

Nothing was going to mess up his date with Natalie today. Not even time itself.

End Chapter 13


	14. Winter Wonderland

Being In Love Is Never Easy!

By: Sailorjj07

14. Winter Wonderland

A/n: YO PEOPLES! Wazzzzzzz uuuuppp? Yup, I'm totally excited cause I've updated and lemme tell ya, this'll be a GREAT update. I hope everyone likes this chappy as much as I do!

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS READ AND REVIEWED!!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

Natalie snuggled closer into Tory's arm as the previews began rolling. Tory blushed brightly and was immediately thankful for the darkness of the theater. Otherwise, he'd probably have to tell Natalie WHY he was blushing.

"I'm so glad we got tickets for this movie early in the week, Iceman," Nadalia whispered, as she and Iceman got comfortable in their seats. They were hooked inside the movie theater's system, which was a Cybertheatre for all the navis to watch movies too.

"Yeah, from what that usher guy said, they sold out of ALL of them two days ago." Iceman commented, though he too spoke in a low whisper.

Nadalia giggled and kissed Iceman's cheek, "You're the best almost-boyfriend ever, did you know that?"

"Almost-boyfriend? Lia, what's that supposed to mean?"

Nadalia sighed before she began her explanation, "Well I can't very well be your girlfriend if you haven't asked me yet. That's just not fair for me."

"For you? Huh?"

"I mean, it'd be entirely too easy if I just became your girlfriend when you never asked me to!"

Iceman was quiet for a moment as he contemplated Nadalia's words. She did have a point. Iceman opened his mouth to respond, but Nadalia hushed him immediately.

"Shhhussshhh! The movie's starting!"

**Two Hours Later**

"Ah, that was great! The Mummy was awesome! And his wife and son were so cool too! I liked his son's girlfriend the best, though!" Natalie cried, pumping her fist in the air. The movie had turned out to be much better than she expected, which made Tory just as happy.

Anything that made Natalie smile gave him joy, it seemed.

"It was pretty good," Tory added, blushing faintly at Natalie's joyous smile. She was so beautiful...Tory stopped walking without realizing it and in turn Natalie nearly tripped over herself when she realized no one was beside her.

"Hm? Hey Tory! T-Tory! Ahhhhhhh~!"

Natalie closed her eyes as she expected to collide with the hard sidewalk, but thankfully that never came. Tory had caught up quickly and grabbed hold of Natalie's wrist before she could fall completely.

"You know, you've been falling an awful lot lately," Tory said, with a warm smile. Natalie blushed red in embarrassment and righted herself, then straightened her clothes a little bit.

"Hehe, I guess I'm still as clumsy as before."

"You, clumsy? Nope, I never saw it."

"Are you kidding? I used to break EVERYTHING at the World Three...Plates, cups, you name it, I dropped it, stepped on it or tripped over it. Everyone used to call me a klutz..." Natalie trailed off as she realized she had actually been speaking slightly well of the World Three. Her eyes roamed the streets to find something else to talk about and lit up when she saw an ice cream stand.

"Oh Tory! Can we get some ice cream? I haven't had any in a while..."

Tory smiled at Natalie's excited expression and shrugged, "I don't see why not."

"Let's go, let's go!" Natalie grabbed Tory's hand and together they went over to the small corner stand. Tory ordered their ice cream and soon the two were walking with their frozen treats, each licking at their double scoops quietly.

They walked towards the closest park and had a seat at one of the benches, underneath a tree.

"Hey Natalie," Tory started to say, but Natalie's eyes were too focused on his face, so he stopped. When her gaze didn't move, he decided to ask: "Is there something on my face?"

Natalie finally realized Tory was talking to her and nodded when she heard his question, "Yeah, right there." Natalie pointed a finger towards the side of her mouth, and Tory wiped at the spot on his own face, but he didn't feel anything...Had he missed?

"You missed it."

Tory tried again, this time on the other side, but still, he missed.

"Goodness. Here," Natalie unwrapped a napkin from around her cone and moved closer towards Tory's face. He leaned in, so that she wouldn't have to reach far, but soon realized that only made Natalie give into temptation.

At the last minute, Natalie's hand dropped and soon her lips were on the place were the ice cream had been, and she licked it off, a wicked smirk crossing her face as she did so. She moved away quickly so she could see Tory's face and the bright, cherry red blush was reward enough.

"Hehe, Tory, you're so cute."

Tory pouted at Natalie's grin, trying not to feel like he had just been tricked, "You're teasing me."

Natalie looked dramatically horrified and Tory knew then that she had probably been thinking about doing this to him since they got the ice cream.

"Tory, I'd never do something like-! Mph!"

Natalie never got a chance to finish her sentence. To get back at her for tricking him, Tory had kissed her fully on the lips. He was glad he did too, because between the taste of Natalie and the taste of the ice cream, Tory was fairly close to being in heaven.

When Tory felt like Natalie was good and breathless, he pulled away from her, going back to eat his ice cream very nonchalantly, as if nothing had happened. True, he found out that he loved kissing Natalie, but he was nowhere near as frozen as she was.

He had finished his first scoop when Natalie finally snapped out of it.

"TORY, YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!" Natalie screeched and Tory laughed loudly as Natalie's flaming red face filled his line of vision. He continued to eat his cone, ignoring the girl's protests. Natalie huffed and began to eat her ice cream once again, before it melted.

"Natalie..." Tory was looking out at the wide expanse of the park when Natalie looked over to him. His calm eyes turned towards her and he found the resolve to say what he wanted, "Will you...be my girlfriend, Natalie?"

Natalie was shocked, even though she had dreamed of this day for weeks, "M-me?"

"No, the other Natalie in your brain," Tory chuckled at his own joke, then smiled at Natalie, "You don't want to?"

"N-No! Of-f course I want to!" Natalie stood up from the bench and bowed low, "P-Please take care of me from now on!"

Tory smiled and reached up, then cupped Natalie's cheek. He felt so at ease and calm now, since he had told Natalie how he felt. He leaned up, kissing Natalie very slowly and softly. When he pulled away, a bright blush stained her cheeks and her eyes were dazed.

"You've made me very happy. I'll do my best to do the same for you." Tory told her and all Natalie could do was nod. She had no idea when Tory had gotten so calm and mature, but it made her more nervous than before. She had been waiting on him for such a long time to make his move and now that he had, he was determined to kill her from happiness.

"T-Tory..." Natalie felt like her heart was going to pound out of her chest. She leaned forward and kissed Tory again, to which he happily returned. They stayed that way until Natalie felt like her lungs were going to explode, before she pulled away.

Tory gave her another breath-taking smile, which made her blush only get redder. Natalie would never forget today for as long as she lived, she was sure.

Natalie opened her mouth to tell Tory her thoughts, but was cut off by a resounding beep.

"Natalie!! Natalie! Tell Tory that he has e-mail!" Nadalia cried, from the PET, slightly irritated that someone had interrupted the two and ended her favorite soap opera for the day.

"She's right, Tory. We have an e-mail," Iceman got quiet, while he read the sender's name before he gasped, "It's from Dad!"

"Huh? Dad?" Tory took hold of Natalie's wrist and tugged her back towards the bench, where she sat down and waited for Iceman to finish, "Open it please."

"I already did. Dad says we have to come to his new job, now. Somethings wrong."

"Dad got another new job?" Natalie questioned out loud, and Tory only nodded in response. He was a tab more worried about the contents of the e-mail then his Dad's constant address change, it seemed.

"We? Who's we?"

"You, me..." Iceman read the e-mail over before his face brightened up considerably, "Nat and Lia! He says he wants Lan, Chaud, Yai and Maylu to come too!"

"All of us? Did he say what for?" Nadalia asked, from her PET.

"I don't know. He just said something happened and that he thinks it's best if WE come. Something about it being a personal/private matter that he knows we probably want to handle for ourselves."

Both Tory and Natalie began to wonder what on Earth could be a personal matter for them at Tory's Dad's job, but decided that didn't matter.

"So where's Dad at now?"

"In Sharo."

**Two Days Later**

Natalie shivered as their plane landed in Sharo. She had heard about the Frozen Wasteland known as Sharo and wanted nothing more but to turn around and go right back to DenTech City.

But they were here on a mission.

"It's cold, it's cold, It's cold!" Natalie whined, clinging to Tory tighter than she had on the plane. She was bundled up in a purple pea coat, a black scarf and gloves and black snow boots. Still, she was cold as their group stepped off of their plane and into the airport.

"Come here, I'll warm you up," Tory told her, holding his arms out for her completely. Natalie nodded with a tearful look in her eyes, burring herself into Tory's arms. Their friends laughed at their display, but Tory had been serious. He pressed a kiss into Natalie's forehead and rubbed her back slowly, "Is it any better?"

"Uh-huh," Natalie said softly, a faint blush covering her face. She had no idea Tory would be this bold in public! It was awesome!

"Tory, you came. And you brought all your friends too!" Tory's Dad threw his arms open for his son, who regarded him coolly. After a moment, Tory let Natalie go and went over to his Dad, who hugged him joyfully.

"Aw, I was afraid you had become a rebellious teenager in my absence!" His Dad cried, and Tory rolled his eyes, stepping out of his father's hug to push Natalie forward softly.

"Dad...This is-"

"Natalie, I know. Did you forget that I was still at home when she came to stay with us?" Tory's Dad heaved a sigh at his son's forgetfulness, then turned to Natalie, "So you're going to be the next Mrs. Froid, huh? Tory talks nonstop about you. Sorry that I wasn't able to see you that often, even in the house. I think the entire week you stayed there, you saw me once. I tend to work late, very often."

"And apparently you move a lot too," Natalie replied, a sour tone in her voice. She frowned at Tory's Dad, who burst into sheepish laughter.

"Oh, you're mad that I moved Tory away so suddenly. You have my deepest apologies! I thought it would be better for my family if we were together, but I didn't know Tory would be so miserable without you," Then, as if he had remembered something, "Oh and his friends too. Can't forget you guys."

"Thanks, Mr. Froid." Lan said, grinning at the older man. Tory's father nodded, and continued, "So kids, it seems like something has been hacking into Sharo's water system and making it even harder to keep the fresh water coming. You see, I was sent here to fix a frost problem with the pipes, but it's not something I can control anymore. The programs are being frozen over by viruses."

"So bringing Fire chips here was a good idea!" Lan cried, fingering the chips in his pocket. Megaman proudly agreed and even Maylu had to give Lan a pat on the back. She hadn't expected him to think ahead that well.

"Yes, a very good idea. There are several ice programs floating around but I fear there is more troublesome news. I'll let you guys see it once we get to the Water Treatment Facility. Follow me, everyone."

**At The Water Treatment Facility**

"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!"

The group of teens (and pre-teens) were in a state of panic as their navis dived into the facility's Net. At first they realized that there really were A LOT of ice-element viri wreaking havoc all over the poor frost-bitten aqua programs. But that wasn't all.

Tory's father made everyone zoom out the viewing camera's on their PETs and upon further inspection, a name was carved into the panels on the floor below their navis

"World Three?! But how? Why?" Natalie was the first to recover from shock. Why were the World Three in Sharo?

Tory's father sighed, "We honestly don't know. At first, we were worried that it was an outright terrorist attack on Sharo. However, I fear it's a tad more personal than that." As Tory's father finished his statement, the entire group received an e-mail from him, "I've sent you the message that was frozen onto one of the water programs. I don't know HOW they managed to embed an e-mail in the poor navi and it even opened right after he was defrosted."

This time, Yai read the e-mail out loud, "Revenge is refreshingly cold and sweet."

"There's more."

As Yai looked down at her e-mail, Gylde added to the older man's comment, "It appears there are pictures attached. Would you like me to open them, Ms. Yai?"

"Please, Glyde. Immediately."

"Right away." Glyde opened the pictures up and Natalie's face grew red as her eyes fell onto a snapshot of her and Tory KISSING in the park.

"CLOSE IT! CLOSE IT!" Natalie cried as her face grew so red that Yai wondered if she was going to pass out.

"Natalie? It's okay," Tory said gently, reaching out to wrap his arm around her waist. He didn't mind. After all, she WAS his girlfriend. To tease her even more, Tory leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "Are you embarrassed to be kissed by me, Natalie?"

Natalie's heart nearly stopped beating as Tory whispered into her ear. Apparently Tory's whispers did bad things to her, "N-No, Tory, that's not it..."

Tory smiled and kissed Natalie's cheek, not really caring who saw, "Then please calm down. You're so red. I thought you were going to pass out too."

Natalie nodded and took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself down. Surprisingly it worked.

"So someone saw you two on your date...And in this picture, you have ice cream, so I'm sure that's what this person is talking about." Chaud deducted and Maylu nodded in agreement.

"That has to be it," she said, before she looked down at her PET, "Roll, everyone, let's take all these viri out and then try to track this e-mail. Between Chaud, Yai, Tory and I, we should be able to get someone found."

"No," Natalie started, while looking down at a grim faced Nadalia, "Let me do it. I'll find this person."

"A-Are you sure? You know, the more heads, the-"

"No, Maylu. Let me do this."

Nadalia nodded from her PET, "Please, let us. I have a feeling this will lead us to someone and I want to find the person."

Lan looked at Natalie and saw the determined look on her face. He knew the girl would probably revert to some of her World Three tactics, but that was okay as long as she didn't tell anyone exactly HOW she would find the person. He turned to the others after nodding at Natalie, "We'll handle the viri. Natalie, find the person responsible for this."

**Five Hours Later**

"...Is she still going at it?"

Tory didn't want to eat with everyone else while Natalie was stuck in his Dad's house, trying to find the culprit. She had smiled reassuringly at him and told him she could handle being alone but Tory wasn't convinced.

So throughout dinner, Tory had e-mail Natalie about five times and each response had a big smiley face at the end of it. He felt his nerves calm a little bit, but he knew he'd feel better as soon he got back to Natalie.

"Did she say what she wanted us to bring her back?" Lan questioned, spooning stew into his mouth. Maylu broke off a piece of bread and dipped it into Lan's bowl, tasting it for herself.

"What else? She said she wants to taste Sharo's curry." Tory replied, with an amused smile on his face. Natalie was trying really hard to make him feel better, he knew.

"Curry? In Sharo? Wow...Tory, you're girlfriend's wierd." Yai commented, spearing a carrot with her fork. Tory shrugged and bit into his hot sandwich, while his father ordered Natalie's curry to go.

Tory sighed thankfully as his PET beeped. It was another e-mail from Natalie. He opened it quickly, already wondering what it's contents were.

_'Tory,_

_Please stop worrying about me. I'm fine, really! The only problem I'm having is a growling stomach! ^_^;_

_Miss you bunches!_

_Natalie_

_X0X0_

**At Tory's Dad's House**

"Natalie, would you like to-?"

"No, Nadalia, I'm fine. Please look through that file one more time." Natalie stated, clearly irritated by the amount of security she had to watch Nadalia go through. It was like finding a needle in a haystack, but she had found it, and she wasn't going to let it go.

"I can't. There's a security patrol about to come through in a moment, " Nadalia muttered softly, before she added, "How 'bout we just take it?"

"No, Dalia, we're trying to be good now, remember? We can't go stealing files. We don't do that anymore." Natalie typed a few things into her PET, then looked back down at her navi, "Can we at least copy it?"

"It'd be easier to steal it. Copying will take time we don't have." Nadalia told her owner, rolling her eyes. Didn't she know anything since their training in World Three?

"Really? Can't we just copy the important parts?" Natalie questioned, trying to think of a solution to their present problem.

"I can read it and copy it at the same time, however, I might not get the entire thing." Nadalia commented, holding the file up. She opened the file and began reading the top and realized it was just a bunch of technological dribble.

"Ok, you read the top and open the last page for me. We'll go as fast as we can and hopefully meet in the middle."

"W-Wait...I just...found something," Nadalia began to skim through the pages into the middle of the file, "It's a list of names!"

"Really? For what?"

"It's put into columns: current members, past members, and deceased members."

"Can you copy the list?"

"No, we don't have time, remember?" Suddenly, Nadalia gave a gasp, "...Oh my goodness..."

Nadalia dropped the file and immediately logged out, as the security navi came close to turning the corner.

"Nadalia, erase all the cookies in our PET since the last back-up. Oh and save Tory's e-mails."

"Alright." Nadalia's eyes flashed red as the cookies and data were erased from the PET. Natalie heaved a sigh of relief, but then remembered she hadn't asked Nadalia what she had found.

"So Nadalia what did you discover?"

"On the list of past members were you, Mr. Match, Maddi, and the others in the shop. Dex was on the deceased list and so was Gutsman."

"That's not a surprise."

Nadalia held up her hand, "BUT, there was a name on the current member list...Natalie, you might want to sit down for this."

Natalie was slightly worried at Nadalia's words, but sat down on the couch anyway, "And the name?"

"Chisao."

Natalie froze. She knew that name. She knew the person who that name belonged to. But Nadalia had to be wrong! The only Chisao she knew was:

"Dex's little brother?!"

Natalie only heard her own exclamation before everything went silent. She especially didn't hear Nadalia screaming her name when suddenly the world around her went black.

End Chapter 14


	15. Chisao!

Being In Love Is Never Easy!

By: Sailorjj07

15. Chisao

A/n: Dang, this one's almost done. I don't want to end it on a really weird number, but then again, I have no reason to go on to 20. I'd say this story may have about three more chapters, but that MAY be pushing it. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

Tory's heart had nearly burst when Iceman had suddenly exclaimed that Natalie had past out on the couch. Nadalia had sent a frantic e-mail to Iceman, and Iceman had read it with the same amount of panic in his voice.

"Did she say why?" Tory asked, getting up from his seat and making his way out of the restaurant. The rest of the group scrambled to catch up to him, not even sure where Tory was going.

"Tory, wait up!" Lan cried, since he had gotten to him before anyone else. Tory shook his head and Lan nearly stopped running at the terribly frightened look on his face. Lan was nearly afraid to ask: "What happened?"

"Natalie fainted on the couch. I have to go back to my Dad's house. Now." Tory told Lan, his voice firm, despite being thick with panic.

Worried Tory had apparently knocked Calm Tory off a cliff and made sure Angry Tory was there to watch. What had Natalie done to his best friend? Lan had never seen Tory act like this. Regardless, he had to let everyone know what was going on, "Hey, Natalie passed out!"

At Lan's word, the entire group began to sprint down the icy streets of Sharo's main city. Tory's Dad had a huge condo in a ten-story building, not very far from the restaurant the group had been eating at. The trip to the restaurant was about five minutes, but the trip back...Well, let's just say Tory made the trip in record time.

Tory's Dad tossed the house keys to Lan, who tossed them to Tory as they ran up the stairs two at a time. Once Tory reached his Dad's floor, he jetted to the end of the hallway, nearly dropping the house key in his rush to open the door.

The door popped open with a soft click and Tory shoved past it, his eyes falling on Natalie before he even made it down the three steps into the living room.

"Natalie!" Tory cried, all but sliding to his knees once he reached the couch. He gently took her hand in his, although he was breathing so heavily, he wondered if it would wake her. "Oh Natalie, honey...What happened?" Tory's voice was nearly choked as he looked down at her face, and immediately he noticed the lack of color in it.

"Tory! You made it! Tory, she-!" Nadalia was near to hysterics from her PET, trying not to cry. Tory could understand how she felt; he wanted to cry too.

"Tory! Is she alright?" Maylu was the next person to burst into the door, followed by Lan. How the boy had gotten BEHIND her in their race to Natalie, Tory didn't know, but right now, he didn't really care either.

"It looks like she's just resting, but look at her face," Tory's voice was soft, but filled with sadness. What had she found out that made her react this way?

"Yeah, it's awfully pale for her to just have fainted. You don't think she's sick or anything, do you?" Maylu came around to the other side of the couch and softly rested her hand on Natalie's forehead. "Her temperature feels normal."

"Well, how do we wake her up?" Lan asked, walking over to stand behind Maylu. Chaud walked in, carrying Yai in his arms, while Tory's Dad locked the door behind the group.

"I've got just the thing." Tory's Dad stated cheerfully, and with that, he walked quickly into the guest bedroom. Tory could hear his Dad rummaging through something in the bathroom, and watched as his father came back with a small vial.

"Ta da! Just the thing to awaken the fair maiden," his father grinned, and twisted the cap off the bottle, pulling out a small stick. He wafted the stick underneath Natalie's nose and began to count, "1...2...3-"

"Oh, that smells horrible!" Natalie cried, pushing Tory's Dad's hand away. She began to cough heavily while her eyes scanned the room, and finally her fit stopped. "Tory? I think I fainted."

Tory was relieved beyond belief, "Natalie, sweetheart, I know." Tory moved to the edge of the couch and in one swift motion, sat Natalie up and pulled her into his arms. He hugged her tightly, sighing deeply beside her ear before he whispered: "You scared me to death."

"D-Did I?" Natalie tried not to blush, but she failed miserably at it. Finally, she just gave up.

"Please don't ever do that to my heart again," Tory replied softly, pulling away from Natalie, who was still red in the face. Tory chuckled a little bit and went back to holding her hand, while the others crowded around the couple.

"So what did you find out?" Lan was the first to ask the question on everyone's mind. At first, Natalie's face went pale as a sheet, but slowly the color began to come back.

"It...It was Chisao."

There was a silence before the news really hit the group.

"Chisao?! That cute little kid who looked up to his big brother Dex like a god? Wow," Yai commented, not really believing her ears. Chaud, on the other hand, believed it completely.

"If he looked up to his older brother as much as you say he did, then I'm sure it truly is him."

"But I've never done anything-" Natalie began, but once glance at Mr. Froid's thoughtful look and she cut herself off.

"You were the person that was with his brother the most before his death. He probably thinks you caused his death," Tory's Dad nodded as he presented his hypothesis to the rest of the group. Maylu also nodded, in agreement. It made perfect sense.

"He must not know that we were really the cause of his death," Lan said quietly, and everyone heard the sadness in his voice.

"Lan, no one was the cause of Dex's death but Dex himself. You can't blame anyone but him. It's not our fault," Maylu replied, placing her hand on Lan's arm gently. He nodded and took hold of Maylu's hand, kissing her fingers softly.

"That makes me wonder what he really has against Natalie then," Tory's Dad was still focusing on the issue at hand, which made the others put their thinking caps on too.

"Like you said, I was the first and probably the last person he was around," Natalie leaned against Tory as she closed her eyes painfully against the memory. She remembered Dex's threat against her life, loud and clear, as if it had just happened.

"Besides us. Chisao wasn't there when Dex died, so he could only go by what the newspaper said," Yai was replaying every memory of that day in her head, but she couldn't think of one instant when Dex could have contacted Chisao.

"Wait," Natalie got everyone's attention as her violet eyes began to get cloudy with thoughts. Her mind was going a mile a minute and finally, her eyes lit up purple as she realized what probably happened. "What if Chisao knew Dex had become a World Three member?"

"He didn't. None of us knew until Dex told us directly," Maylu told Natalie, not seeing where she was going.

"Ok then...What if Dex never told Chisao, but...World Three told Chisao? Didn't he look up to his big brother a lot? You said yourself that Chisao wanted to be just like Dex."

Tory immediately caught on, "I saw how much he respected his brother with my own eyes. So what if World Three told and showed Chisao that Dex had been World Three? What if they offered to give him his brother's place in the organization; his brother's room and everything in it?" Tory's mind reeled at the amount of manipulation the World Three had used to ensnare the younger boy.

"So it was like some sort of inheritance in Chisao's eyes. Receive everything that was his brother's and become just like him. Chisao is trying to become him," Chaud shook his head at the boy's stupidity. The kid was a fool really. "In addition to getting everything that was once Dex's, he took his morals and values. And his navi, if that Gutsman was even real."

"He also gained his hatred for me, too," Natalie's voice was shaking as she thought about how Dex had hurt her. Why would Chisao want to do such a thing? He had only met her once anyway.

"So that's what this is all about? Chisao wanting to lash out on the people he thinks are responsible for his brother's death?"

"That's what it sounds like to me." Tory's Dad leaned back against the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Kids these days were getting crazier and crazier.

"Me too," Maylu agreed, still holding Lan's hand. He was surprisingly quiet right now, but Maylu figured it was because his mind was trying to process everything. Goodness, even her mind was still trying to wrap around the idea that Dex's little brother was the cause of all this mess.

"So how do we stop him?" Natalie's question made everyone freeze up. No one had even thought that far, obviously.

"We'd probably have to catch him in the act." Tory started, but Natalie had an idea of her own.

"Or pay a visit to World Three," Natalie stated, her eyes darkly cold with a sliver of fear and determination.

Tory shivered slightly. It appeared that Natalie had a dark side she tried to force away as often as possible. Tory knew in his heart that Natalie was never truly bad, deep down, but he had caught himself wondering how the girl had gotten into such a bad group.

Now he knew why.

"They've probably moved their base by now," Chaud was watching Natalie and trying to fight the smirk from appearing on his face. He could tell Natalie was showing her World Three side and wondered how bad she had really been. As bold as the girl was with Tory, Chaud never thought she would be the type that was scheming and conniving.

Then again she had helped Maylu and Lan in their plan to stop Dex before.

"No, that's too dangerous!" Maylu cried, shaking her head as if to shoo the thought from her mind. She didn't want any more of her friends to get hurt or die; Maylu was afraid she wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Then what do we do?"

"I say we wait until the next time he strikes." Lan suggested, but Natalie and Tory immediately shot that idea down.

"Lan, we have no idea when the next time will be," Natalie started, and Tory had no problem finishing for her.

"Not only that, but I want this to be over and done with. I'm starting to get really frustrated with Chisao playing games with my life," Once again, Tory had pushed his usual self aside and let everyone see him angry. It was a rare sight to see and even Natalie looked surprised at the amount of anger showing on Tory's face. She squeezed his hand softly, and his face relaxed a little bit, although it was clear that he was still angry.

Tory's father couldn't help but laugh, "Haha, there's that anger of his. It always springs up on you and scares you to death because you don't expect it from calm, quiet Tory. But sometimes the gentlest creatures become vicious demons when those they love are in danger." Tory's father stood up, and continued, "I say you go pay a visit to the boys' mother. Go talk to her and see what's going on at home. Once there, I think you'll know where to go. It's not like the kid is as old as the rest of you are. Plus, I'm sure his mother tried to stop him from going to World Three like his brother. There have to be clues with her."

"What about his dad?" Lan questioned, already thinking of what to do as soon as they got back to Dentech. Tory's Dad gave him a good idea.

"Don't Chisao and Dex have different fathers?" Maylu added, and Yai nodded as she realized that they did.

"Yes, if I remember correctly. So should we go visit Chiaso's dad then?"

Chaud shook his head, "He's in jail." Everyone's head whipped over in Chaud's direction with an obvious question and he simply shrugged, "I have my connections. And I remember the story on the news. The man was a thief and a killer. He'll been in jail for a long time."

"But then Chisao-?"

"He wasn't really with his father. If I remember correctly, once his Dad was caught and arrested, Chisao had to move in with some of his father's relatives. That was on the news too."

Tory sighed, "So first we go visit his mother. Then we go from there, I guess?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Lan told everyone, and they all nodded in agreement. It sounded like a pretty good plan too.

**That Night**

Tory bolted upright in his bed, clutching his heart painfully. He was gasping for breath as he woke up from his awful dream and immediately his hands went to his eyes, which were surprisingly wet.

Tory had never cried because of a dream. He had woke up in a rush because of a dream, he had even had dreams that made his whole day brighter. But never, in his whole life, had Tory woken up crying.

What was his dream about? Natalie, dying in front of his very eyes. She had called out to him and he had reached for her; reached and reached, but somehow, he couldn't get to her fast enough. In a bloody explosion, she died before his eyes and all Tory could do was sob painfully as his heart felt like it had been ripped from his chest.

It seemed like forever as Tory sat there, trying to force the dream from his mind. Finally, he wiped away the last of his tears and crept out of his bed.

He had to see her right now. He had to make sure she was ok.

Tory felt his way through the darkness of his father's house. He knew his way around somewhat, since his Dad had given him a tour. But Tory didn't want to turn on any light, for fear that he would wake the others up. And even if he needed to see Natalie no matter what, he wasn't going to be rude to everyone else by waking them up with bright lights.

Tory reached the room slowly, but once he was there, he opened the door with a soft creak. He waited until he had shut the door just as quietly before his voice floated throughout the room.

"Natalie. Are you awake?"

Natalie had stopped being a heavy sleeper when the whole mess with Dex had begun. At the sound of Tory's voice, she sat up in bed, peering into the darkness. Natalie, Yai and Maylu had to share a room, as did the boys, but everyone had gotten their own bed to sleep in. Maylu merely rolled over in her sleep, not hearing a thing. Yai's snoring continued as well, so Natalie began to wonder if she was hearing things.

Then she saw a black patch move towards her and knew that she wasn't. "T-Tory?"

Tory smiled warmly in the darkness and gently sat down on the edge of Natalie's bed. For a moment, neither of them moved, making sure the other two girls were still asleep. Natalie slid to the left as Tory crawled in under her blankets, putting his arms around her waist and laying his head down on the pillow beside her.

"Natalie, I needed to talk to you," he whispered as he tucked her hair behind her ear. Natalie rolled onto her side and brought their heads closer together so she could hear him clearly.

"Tory, what's wrong?"

"Natalie, I need you to promise me that you won't do anything until we come up with a better plan." Tory's voice was firm even as he whispered to her and to make sure he had her attention, Tory turned her body until she was facing him. Natalie breathed softly, taking Tory's hands in her's.

"I can't promise you that," she replied, just as firmly.

"Natalie...Please..." Natalie could feel Tory's midnight blue eyes pleading with her without having to see them. She felt like she couldn't say no to that tone, but she was going to try to put up a fight.

"Tory, why?"

He hugged her tightly to him, murmuring into her ear, "Do you really not know how afraid I was today? I've never been so worried in my entire life. Well except for that time at the church..." Tory shook his head and continued, "Natalie, I just got you. I just found out that you feel the same way I do. I don't want to lose you yet. I can't."

"T-Tory..." Natalie's blush was bright and Tory ran his finger softly over her cheek, feeling the warmth behind his fingertip. "I don't want to lose you either. But I can't just sit by and let this keep going on. It needs to stop."

"You're right and it will. It'll stop when we stop it together. We need to do this together, Natalie."

Natalie fought back the urge to cry. Didn't Tory understand? She wanted to do this alone so that none of her friends would get hurt. "Tory, I don't want you to-"

"Get hurt? Sweetheart, if I get hurt, it'll be because of me, not because of you. Natalie, we have to do this together. And we have friends who will be very angry if we leave them out."

Natalie sighed, "You're right."

"Of course. So will you promise?" Tory released Natalie so he could look down at her. Even though he could barely see her in the darkness, he could feel her gaze on him and that was enough to keep him going, "Promise me that you'll wait until we have a better plan to move. Promise that we'll do this together."

Once again, Natalie released a slow sigh. She pouted a little bit, but nodded anyway, "Alright. I promise."

Tory was so happy he kissed Natalie then and there, until she was breathless and probably red in the face, "Thank you, sweetheart. Thank you so much."

Natalie giggled, enjoying Tory's thanks very much, "It doesn't take much to make you happy, does it, Tory?"

"When you're with me, everything makes me happy."

"Oh Tory," Natalie whispered, feeling her voice nearly catch in her throat. She leaned up and kissed Tory full on the mouth, and they stayed that way for a while, kissing and clinging to each other. With one final, sweet kiss, Tory crawled back out of Natalie's bed and went back to the room he was supposed to be in.

End Chapter 15


	16. Investigation!

Being In Love Is Never Easy!

By: Sailorjj07

16. Investigation!

A/n: TA DA! I'm here everyone! I know, it's been forever, lol, but I still love you! ^__^ So thanks for reviewing and here's a reward for your trouble! A new chappy! Oh and by the way...This fic WILL have a sequel too. It'll be about Yai and Chaud next time! WHOO!!

THIS IS THE REAL CHAPTER 16! I just realized I had an entire chapter sitting in my computer, staring at me calling me an idiot. Sooooo, SORRY GUYS! You got a peek before you were supposed to, so, you can re-read this again.

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO READ AND REVIEWED!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

"Natalie, honey, wake up. The plane's landing."

Tory shook Natalie's body gently, wondering just how much it would take to wake the younger girl up. She had been out like a light as soon as their plane had taken off from the Sharo Airport and now that they were back in Dentech City, he had expected her to wake up just as quickly.

Apparently, that wasn't the case.

"Honey..." Tory leaned very close to the slumbering girl's ear, still continuing to shake her softly although to Natalie it felt more like a caress. He poked her cheek gently, and she stirred awake, her purple eyes almost gray with haze from sleep.

"Hmmm? Tory? What's...the matter?"

"Nate, we're landing in Dentech City. Wake up, honey."

At his response, Natalie stretched, her half lidded eyes sliding open fully, "Oh, we're here?"

"Yeah. So wake up already." Tory told her, a smile spreading across his face. His midnight blue eyes warmed to a deep blue color, as Natalie leaned forward and kissed him. Tory blushed heavily, as he hadn't been expecting the kiss and he watched Natalie in surprise, who giggled mischievously.

"Good morning, Tory." She said, her devilish smile totally messing up the meaning behind the simple phrase.

"Good morning to you too." Tory couldn't help but laugh; Natalie was just so cute!

Lan looked over from his seat across the isle and smiled at the two of them, happy to see Natalie awake,"Hey you two. The four of us were just talking!"

"And we think it'd be best for us to go in groups of two." Maylu finished for Lan, leaning forward in her seat so that she could bee seen too.

"Split up? For what?"

"I think it'd be better if Yai and I went to go pay a visit to Chiaso's father in jail. I want to go alone, but-! Ow!"

Chaud held his stomach as Yai dug her elbow in even further, "I refuse to let him go in there alone. And no one will touch us; we're entirely too prominent."

"They have a point; Yai's big forehead used to be a shining example of-! OW! Darn it, Yai!" Lan groaned as a hand slammed down on the top of his skull.

Yai stood holding her fist up in irritation, leaning over the back of her seat to deliver Lan another blow, should he open his mouth and say something else stupid.

The group shared a laugh before Maylu continued where Chaud left off, "And we think it'd be best for us to go and see the relatives that Chisao was living with."

"And you want us to go visit his mom?" Tory questioned, although he pretty much already knew the answer.

"Well, yeah, I think having Natalie meet their mom would probably be the best idea," Maylu said, thoughtfully. "The fact that she was the only other girl to love Dex beside herself will warm her heart and make her a lot more willing to help us."

"I only got to see her once too and it was from a distance..." Natalie remembered that meeting as if it had happened yesterday. Dex's mom was a beautiful woman, pretty enough to be a model. She never understood how a woman like that could fall for a man like...Dex's Dad.

"All passengers please grab your belongings and exit the plane. And remember, safety first!"

Natalie watched as Tory reached up, grabbing both of their belongings from the overhead compartment, before handing Natalie her bag, "We should hurry home, Nate. I miss Anastasia."

Natalie was all smiles as she got in line behind Tory, "Oh! Me too! I wonder how our little angel is doing?"

Maylu giggled behind them, "You two sound just like real parents!"

Natalie tried her hardest not to blush, but failed miserably, "Heh, well, she's still our grade, you know?"

"And Mom's been calling us every hour about something else that Sakura's done. She thinks she's just the cutest baby in the world. She even said she's cuter than I was!" Lan cried, pouting from his spot behind Maylu.

The entire group of friends laughed as they shuffled off of the plane.

**Two Hours Later**

"Alright, we're heading to visit Dex and Chisao's mom," Tory told everyone, taking Natalie's hand gently. She turned her face away from their friends as a pretty red blush stained her cheeks and waited for Maylu's response.

"And we're going to visit the relitives that Chisao is staying with right now." Maylu replied, nodding resolutely.

"We're off to visit Chisao's dad in prison." Yai added, pushing Chaud towards the limo, "We can drop you guys off where you need to go; the jail is the furthest."

"What about Dex's dad? Should we go see him?" Natalie interjected, the thought coming to her mind almost instantly. Truth be told, she had never met Dex's father and she definitely hadn't though of him until just now.

"Oh darn. I forgot all about him," Lan commented, smacking his hand on his forehead. He sighed and shook his head slowly, as if the idea had been staring him in the face all along, "Will he be with Dex's mom or alone?"

"Well, really I don't know. When we met Dex, Chisao was staying with their mom. I'm assuming she was with Chiaso's dad then. So do you think her and Dex's dad got back together, since Chisao's dad is in jail now?" Maylu crossed her arms over her chest as her mind ran through all the possibilities of the unusual relationships going on in Dex's family.

"We should ask her," Natalie said, bluntly.

Tory shook his head, fixing his navy gaze on Natalie, "That's not really something you ask, Nate. What if she doesn't want to talk about it? What if Dex's dad doesn't even know about Chisao?"

Here, Chaud had to speak up, "If he didn't know about Chisao, there would be no way he would just let some random man's kid under his roof. He has to know."

"Chaud does have a point," Lan agreed, although he really didn't want to.

"Anyways, I say we go to each place and get info, then work our way from there. No point in guessing about things we don't know about," Yai was already opening the limo door as she spoke, getting in with Chaud following close behind her.

"Right."

**At Dex's Mom's House**

"Bye everyone!" Natalie waved happily as Yai's limo pulled away from the curb, while Tory managed a small wave of his own. He wrapped his arm around Natalie's waist and turned her around, so that she was facing the door of the blue house with him.

"Are you ready, honey?" Tory asked, glancing at Natalie out of the corner of his eyes. He saw her give a brief nod, her purple eyes going a steely violet as she stared up at the door with a sense of dread and anticipation.

"I've never been more ready in my life, Tory. Let's go." Natalie took the first step towards the house, taking Tory's hand as his arm dropped from around her. He let her lead him up to the front door where they stopped side by side and Natalie rang the doorbell.

"Here we go," Tory whispered, smiling reassuringly at Natalie. She gave him a nervous smile back as the door popped open, revealing the prettiest woman Tory had ever seen in his whole life. (Notice "pretty" and not "beautiful"; that word was reserved for Natalie.)

"Oh hello there! I remember you...Um, Natalie, right? I was so worried that something had happened to you! How are you doing?" Mrs. Oyama's deep green eyes looked from left to right at both teens before she stepped away from the door, "Oh, I'm so rude! Come in, come in! Have a seat!"

"Thank you. Mrs. Oyama, this is Tory. He's my new boyfriend." Natalie told her softly, following the woman inside. She ushered them into a living room where a man was already sitting and having tea.

And boy, did he look just like Dex! Tory had to blink repeatedly to make sure he wasn't seeing a ghost.

"D-Dex?"

"Oh no, not at all. That's my brother-in-law, Mr. Oyama's twin brother. He just came by to pay me a visit; he was worried I wasn't doing too well." The woman sat down on the couch across from the two teens on the love seat. "I take it those flowers on Dex's grave were from you, Natalie?"

"Yes ma'am. My mom helped me order them. I had hoped they had delivered them properly; I guess I had worried over nothing."

"You sure did, dear. But my, they were breathtakingly beautiful flowers. They're blue roses, right?"

"Yes ma'am."

Mrs. Oyama took a sip from her own tea cup, her forest colored gaze falling on both Tory and Natalie, "So what can I do for you two?"

"Well, ma'am..." Natalie started, but she just didn't know how to continue.

"We came to see if you had any way to communicate with Chisao. We wanted to see if he was doing okay without Dex around, since we were Dex's closest friends." Tory's lie came out smoothly and without a hitch. If Natalie didn't know the truth, she'd have believed his story wholeheartedly.

Tears sprang to the older woman's eyes, "Oh, you children are so sweet to one another! But sadly, I haven't seen or heard from my baby in months. They sent him off to a boy's private school, I've been told, since his father went to prison. That poor man." Mrs. Oyama's eyes filled with grief at the mention of both her son and her incarcerated ex.

"Were you there when he was arrested?"

"Oh no. I had just left to patch things up with my husband so he and Chisao were together when he was sent to prison. I tried to get Chisao from him and his family, but since he had full custody, I couldn't have him."

"Patch things up?" Natalie questioned, sipping her tea nonchalantly to cover up the magnitude of her question.

It seemed Mrs. Oyama didn't mind very much, "Well, you see, I had an affair with Chisao's father. We were high school sweethearts and some how we ended up working together. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I had run away from home to be with the man I truly loved."

"But you went back?"

"Well yes, because Chisao's father felt terribly guilty for taking me away from my husband and Dex. It got so bad that he went to visit Mr. Oyama," here, the woman's eyes filled with even more sadness, if it was possible.

"Wow...what a brave man." Tory commented, taking hold of Natalie's hand. Her violet eyes looked a bit sad too.

"I'd say. That's why I love him so much. But when he came here, my husband thought he was trying to rob the house or something and attacked him. I walked in just as the two began to fight. Chisao's dad became distracted because I had walked in and stupidly took his gaze from my husband. It was curtains from then on."

Natalie nearly choked on her tea as Tory patted her back softly. He smiled nervously at Mrs. Oyama and asked her continue, "Then what happened?"

"I had to tell him the whole truth; I spared nothing that night. During my story, though, my husband was so enraged that he attacked Chisao's father yet again. This time, the two went at it tooth and nail. I was so afraid I called the police!" Mrs. Oyama gasped for breath during her story telling, while the two preteens scooted up in their chairs. The story was pretty interesting, to say the least.

"My brother had Chisao's father arrest on the spot," the man sitting beside Mrs. Oyama spoke up for the first time since the two arrived. Natalie's violet gaze fell on Mr. Oyama's twin brother. The man truly did look like Dex, but his voice was much more mature and confident.

It sounded odd coming from Dex's face.

"On what charges?"

"He **was** trespassing. And who could deny that it wasn't assault. The only person who would say otherwise is my sister-in-law here-"

"And I wasn't about to put my own husband in jail," Mrs. Oyama replied smartly.

"So you sent your lover in his place?" Natalie questioned, forgetting herself for a moment. All eyes fell upon the girl, but she wasn't going to back down. Whatsoever.

"...I did, didn't I? But...But, I had to! If I didn't, my husband would've-!" Mrs. Oyama cut herself off as she covered her mouth, tears starting to flow down her lovely cheeks. She knew her actions only proved Natalie's accusations. The younger girl fought the urge to shook her head and stood up. Tory followed suit, feeling that now would be an excellent time to leave.

The look on Natalie's face said she was slowly becoming furious.

"We...ummm...I think now would be a good time to go." Tory said softly, as the twin Mr. Oyama patted his sobbing sister-in-law on the back. He nodded slowly, though he had a gentle smile on his face.

As Natalie made her way to the door, Tory followed her, but could feel the man's eyes still on him. He turned slowly, and the Dex-look-alike continued to smile at him as he said softly: "Perhaps you two will find a way to bring my brother home..."

Tory shut the door behind himself softly.

**With Chaud and Yai**

"My father will be very angry if you won't let me in to see Mr. Oyama!" Yai cried, pushing roughly against the guard's shoulder. The man wouldn't budge, but Yai could see the fear in his eyes.

And she wanted to eat his sorry behind alive.

"I'm telling you, Ms. Yai, there's no such man in here!"

"But there has to be! He was arrested for like eight different things!"

"Ms. Yai, he's not-!"

Chaud held his hand up in front of the man's face and turned to his girlfriend in slight irritation, "Yai. He isn't here."

"What?! Chaud, my sources can't be wrong! We know-!"

"No, we know that Chisao's father is in here. But Chisao has his MOM's last name. We won't find a Mr. Oyama here because he's not in jail. This man...Chisao's father must have a different last name." As Chaud pondered the validity of his claim, he took his PET out of his pocket slowly. The guard glanced between the two rich tweens, the fear still clear on his face.

Finally, Chaud turned his PET in the man's direction, "We need him. This man, right here."

"Oh! Y-you mean Ruchiki? Ayako Ruchiki? Y-You t-two w-want to see him?" The guard glanced between the picture and the two very mean looking tweens nervously. He really didn't want to lose his job; these were prominent kids.

"Yeah, dufus. Lead the way, if you can." Yai told him indignantly, lifting her chin high in the air. Chaud glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, as a smirk warmed its ways across his face.

He really loved the proud, rude girl beside him.

"Y-Yes Ms. Yai." The guard didn't hesitate to lead the two down a dark, gray painted hallway. There were bars everywhere, over the windows, over the doors; all over the place. Even with the sunlight gleaming in through the barred windows, the Dentech City Penitentiary looked nothing short of desolate.

Their path was boring and had nothing of interest to look at. Yai ignored the cell mates that jibbed and called out to her, her chin raising as she completely ignored them. Chaud could only follow the princess with his smirk still planted on his face.

"Ruchiki! You've got visitors!" The guard called, knocking on the gate of the very last cell at the end of the hall.

Yai and Chaud peered in between the bars, hoping to catch a glimpse of the supposedly dangerous man. What they found there was...surprising to say the least.

The gate slid open to make the way for a smiley faced man with rosy cheeks. His brown eyes were wide with innocence and joy, "Why hello there! I definitely wasn't expecting any visitors! I wish I had tea, but...well, they told me I wasn't allowed to go in the kitchen without permission."

"Permission granted. Go ahead and show our g-guests to the Warden's dining room. He's already given his permission."

"Well, thanks so much! Although, I'm worried we won't have the best tea here in this dark place," Ayako smiled warmly at the two as he led them away from the guard, who still looked pretty terrified of the blond devil known as Yai.

"That's alright, Mr. Ruchiki."

"Oh, call me Ayako kids! I won't be mad, I promise." Ayako opened the door and ushered the tweens into a lavish dining room, complete with a royal purple velveteen table cloth and golden china.

"I'll have your tea ready in but a moment. For the meantime, have a seat, okay?" Ayako went about his task of heating the water on a hot plate for the tea, and then came back to sit at the table where Chaud and Yai waited for him. "So...to what do I owe this visit?"

"Well, let me start by introducing myself. My name is Yai," here Yai pointed to herself, then her boyfriend beside her, "And this is Chaud. We're here to ask you a few questions about your son."

"Chisao? Well, last I heard he was with my family. He's not hurt, is he? What's wrong with him?!" Ayako stood by the hot plate, his hand resting on the tea kettle before he set it down gently. His hazel eyes grew wide with worry, though it appeared as if he was trying his hardest to hide it.

Yai raised her hands in a defensive gesture, hoping to calm Ayako's panic over his child, "Please calm down. We aren't sure if this is true or not, but we have reason to believe that your son, Chisao, has joined an underground terrorist organization. Have you ever heard of the World Three?"

A tea cup plummeted to the ground and shattered to bits as Ayako stood still, totally worried now, "W-World Three?! MY DEAR SON!" Ayako slumped down in the chair closest to him, clutching his arms to his chest in obvious pain. "W-What has happened to him while I have been in here? What's going on?"

"You mean, you didn't know?" Today was a very surprising day for Yai.

"Well, I have been in this place for...nearly three years now. I have no clue what's occurred on the outside...Oh, my little Chisao!"

Yai tried not to feel any sympathy for the man because he was a criminal, but the action was easier said then done. She could tell that Ayako was a doting father; one of those who protected his son with everything he had. How was this man put in jail? It appeared like he really didn't belong here...

"Ayako, we really don't know where he is or what he's doing. That's why we want to ask you questions, to see if you can help us. We know Chiaso's not a bad kid. He's never been," Yai told him, as kindly as she could manage.

Chaud fought the urge to chuckle in amusement; Yai wasn't this nice to very many people.

"W-Well," Ayako stuttered as he leaned his head back against the chair. There was sadness written all over his face as he spoke to the two tweens, "I'm not sure if I know where to start."

"You can start by telling us how you got here," Chaud told the man firmly. He received a solemn nod from Yai as Ayako looked between the two. Both tweens matched his gaze evenly and equally, as if daring him to deem them not worthy.

Ayako sighed loudly and dejectedly before he began his story.

**With Lan and Maylu**

"Are you sure this is the right house?"

Lan looked down at the tiny slip of paper one more time, before he took another glimpse around. There were about three cars in front of the house and for some reason, it still seemed kind of empty.

"Maylu, I'm sure. See, here, you look," Lan handed her the paper slip as he shoved his hands in his vest pocket. He didn't wait for Maylu to read the words on the paper, though, and began at a steady pace towards the door.

"Something just doesn't feel right for me..." Maylu whispered softly as she slid the paper in her pocket. She followed behind Lan closely, examining the area as closely as she could. Lan nodded and swallowed thickly as they came to the front door.

"You ready?"

"I'm behind you all the way, Lan."

Lan's heart pound in unspoken joy as he rang the doorbell.

**DING DONG!**

Once.

**DING DONG!**

Twice.

**DING DONG!**

Three times.

Lan turned his gaze towards Maylu, but before she could open her mouth to speak, the door began to slowly creak open by itself. Maylu gripped Lan's arm and together, they walked into the house.

"L-Lan..."

"I know. Don't worry, Maylu. It's fine." Even though Lan was saying this to Maylu, he wasn't sure if he believed himself. The couple strode into a beautiful living room together, that looked very cozy and homely. There was a fireplace with one long sectional couch around it and a large flat-screen TV, that for some reason, was still running.

But what Lan and Maylu noticed wasn't the show on the TV's screen. No, there were much more pressing matters.

The hard wood floor of the living room was splattered in red liquid. There were three bodies there, two adults and a child. One step towards the kitchen and another body was lying face flat on the floor, clear as day.

Lan bit down on his bottom lip, wanting to close his eyes, but it wouldn't help erase the image. It was burned into his mind, probably forever. The Net Op was just about to open his mouth to speak when a footstep drooped heavily on the stairs.

An 11-year-old boy with brown hair and rosy cheeks walked with his head downcast, not even noticing the two in the living room. There was blood on his face and hands. Lan stepped in front of Maylu, in case something went bad, but as soon as the child was close enough, both tweens knew who he was immediately. Lan felt his breath leave him nervously as the boy finally looked up and saw them.

The two stared at the solitary kid as his haunted gaze regarded them as well.

"C-Chisao?! O-oh my God!" Maylu's voice broke the dead silence, as she clung even tighter to Lan, if that was possible.

And that was all it took. The boy gave a choked sob and ran over to the couple immediately, and Lan wasn't sure if he should hit him or run. But when Chisao got to them with her arms wide open and nearly tackled Maylu to the ground in his tears, Lan knew otherwise.

"M-Maylu! I-I-! I d-didn't do anything! I swear it! I swear!! N-Nothing, I d-d-didn't do anything!" Chisao cried at the top of his lungs, clinging onto Maylu like a lifeline. Maylu's heart strings pulled painfully as she patted Chisao's back in comfort.

Lan lowered himself to his knees to be on a face-to-face level with the child, "Chisao...w-what happened here?"

"I-I don't know! I was at school! D-Daddy had paid for me to go to a private school! I-I go there n-now, and live-e t-there. I only come home for the weekends and breaks! MAYLU, MY AUNT IS-!" Chisao couldn't even finish his statement as he choked on his own words. His sobs increased in volume and intensity of that was at all possible.

"Wait, so if you've been at school this whole time..." Lan began, patting Chisao's back solemnly.

"Then it wasn't Chisao." Maylu finished for him, looking at Lan's face over the young boy's shoulder. "Lan, Chisao isn't the one doing this."

**RING RING**

Both Lan and Maylu froze as their PETs began to ring at the exact same time. Maylu looked at Lan in slight shocked, and immediately hit the answer button, holding the PET up in front of her face, while holding Chisao to her at the same time.

Natalie's panicked face popped up on the screen, "Freakin Dex's Dad sucks!"

"I was just about to say that! He really does suck!" Yai cried from Lan's PET. Lan shook his head at the two girls and waited for them to continue.

"What're you two talking about?" Maylu questioned, holding her PET next to Lan's so the two could hear one another.

"Dex's Dad sent Chisao's Dad to jail because he was angry," Natalie started to say, but Yai cut her off quickly.

"Yeah, and Chisao isn't even living with his relatives anymore! He's in private school!" Yai cried, in anger.

"We know. He's here with us. And all of his relatives were murdered..." Lan told both girls quietly, turning his camera in Chisao's direction.

Silence was his answer.

Finally, Tory took the PET from Natalie gently, "Chisao is innocent. The person behind all of this drama, all of this mess...The person who killed Chisao's family-"

"Is me!"

Lan and Maylu barely had time to register the big man looming behind him. As pain and darkness filled their minds, Lan found himself wondering if he was hallucinating.

Was that really Dex?

End Chapter 16


	17. Rescue

Being In Love Is Never Easy

By: Sailorjj07

17. The Rescue!

A/n: Sup everybody? I got a job at the brand new Cowboys Stadium sooooo I've had no life cause I also have another job. That's two jobs for the whole summer; I barely have time to breathe. But since I was on a break that I was forced to take (lol), I decided to bless you all with an update! YAY! This is probably the second to last chapter too, so I promise it'll be great!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

Maylu groaned loudly and rolled over a bit, colliding into something soft. Whatever she had bumped into made a groaning sound too, before a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. Not even two seconds later, a whimper erupted somewhere to Maylu's left as a hand reached out and clasped her own.

This alone caused Maylu to force her eyes open. Chisao's frightened face came into her direct line of vision although a bit blurry. Maylu tried to look up into the light to clear her eyes a bit faster, but all that did was make her head hurt.

"Ugh, where are we?" Maylu asked Chisao, as the younger child scooted closer to her. He held her hand a little tighter if that was possible, as his face lit up a little.

"H-He's got us locked in the b-basement." Chisao was definitely happy that Maylu was awake now. After what Mr. Oyama had done to them...Chisao had been afraid that she and Lan might never wake up.

Speaking of Lan, the navi OP was slowly coming to as well. His hands immediately went to his forehead, and he gave a yelp as he felt the sticky blood that was drying there.

"Did anyone catch the license plate of that truck?" Lan groaned, rubbing the side of his head that didn't have blood on it. He looked a little dizzy for a moment, but soon it had passed and he gazed at the other two in their make-shift prison.

"Yeah. It was Mr. Oyama. He knocked us over the head in the middle of our phone conversation remember?" Maylu said, also examining the odd bars that held them.

It looked as if someone had stolen flag poles and made a circle with them, as there were flags hanging off all of their "prison bars". The only thing keeping them from getting out of the stupid circle was the fact that the poles had been place insanely close together.

"D-Dad works at a flag manufacturing plant." Chisao interjected, already knowing what the two were looking at.

"Seriously? I didn't even know those existed." Lan replied sheepishly, scratching his head in his typical manner.

"You know, this would be a lovely conversation if we weren't surrounded by them, Lan." Maylu gave both boys a cutting look, before she stood up, attempting to peer through the holes in the standing wall.

"Sorry Maylu." Lan muttered, standing up and following his girlfriend. The two of them examined the circular structure throughly before both sat down, exasperated.

"There's no openings." Maylu told Chisao and Lan, sighing.

"Yep. There aren't even holes small enough for you to fit through, Chisao." Lan added, the depression clear in his voice.

"Well hopefully the others will come get us quickly." Maylu said, while crossing her legs Indian-style.

"I wonder what they're doing right now?"

**With Tory and Natalie**

"TORY, WE HAVE TO GO RIGHT NOW!"

Natalie was in a complete and total panic. She had watched in horror from her PET video call as Lan and Maylu were smacked over the head with some kind of antique paper weight and tried not to scream when they sank to the ground like two sacks of potatoes.

She especially tried to hold in her cries when Dex's father came into the conversation.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Dex's little whore! I wanted to meet you for a while now, since my son like to play with you so often. It's a shame that you had him killed, you little witch."

"I-I did not have him killed! It's you who killed him, you sadistic-!"

"Oh ho, apparently you've got a little mouth on you too. But don't worry, honey, you'll be meeting my son soon enough. You're going to come to save your friends and when you do, I'll make sure to shoot you in the head just like Dex did the day you made him die. Oh yes, you'll definitely be in for a nice surprise."

And then the screen shut off.

Now, both Tory and Natalie were sitting at Tory's house, waiting on his mother to get off of the phone with the police.

"Natalie, we can't go. Especially not with you in trouble. I won't let him hurt you anymore."

"But Lan and Maylu are in there! And Chisao!"

Tory shook his head silently, crossing his arms. His navy-colored eyes were closed as he leaned his head against the couch, sighing softly, "We have to wait until Chaud and Yai get here. We can't just storm in there alone-"

"We have to! You must not care about them as much as I do!" Natalie made her way over to the front door, raising her voice louder as she slipped her shoes on, "They're the only friends I have, Tory! I won't let them rot!"

The door slamming was Tory's only clue to where she was going.

But he wouldn't have that. Tory got up quickly, not even bothering to slip his shoes on. He took off down the sidewalk after his headstrong girlfriend, catching up to her in a very short amount of time. It was apparent that Natalie wasn't exactly a good runner.

As soon as he reached her, Tory grabbed her wrist and yanked her body into his, holding her in his arms tightly. He squeezed her shaking form and held her even tighter to him, if that was possible.

"Don't you EVER do something that irrational! We CAN'T go get them until we get help, Natalie! We aren't strong enough alone!" Tory had long since released Natalie so that he could look her in the eye as he spoke. With his hands on her shoulders, he shook her firmly, getting her attention, "I WON'T LOSE YOU TO ANYONE IN THAT STUPID FAMILY, DO YOU HEAR ME?! I WON'T!"

Natalie's purple eyes widened considerably as she realized this was the closest she'd ever seen Tory to tears. He looked completely upset; almost heartbroken. Natalie could feel her bottom lip begin to tremble as Tory crashed his lips down on her's, the entire moment screwing up his emotions and inhibitions.

"Natalie, don't go. Please don't go," Tory whispered along her lips, between each kiss. Natalie nodded slowly, the tears coming to her eyes as she leaned her forehead against Tory's.

"I'm so worried about them, Tory. So very very worried."

"I know, honey. I know." Tory kissed her lips softly one final time before he pulled away from Natalie and took her hand instead. He lead her back down the sidewalk to his house. As they came around the corner, a limo parked in the driveway greeted them both.

"See? Yai and Chaud are already here."

"Wow, Tory, great shoes." Yai commented as the two came up to the porch. Tory looked down at his slippers and laughed in embarrassment while Chaud just rolled his eyes at the two. Natalie opened the front door and ushered the group into her boyfriend's house, plopping down on the living room couch.

Tory's mom entered the room directly after, sitting down in an overstuffed arm chair, "I just got off the phone with the police, they're sending a SWAT team over to the house. They need you four to meet them there since you all know more information than anyone else."

"Right. I've called Daddy's special forces in as well." Yai added, receiving a nod from everyone in the room.

"Mine too." Chaud replied, in his quiet way.

"Then I guess we should be on our way then, right?" Natalie asked, standing up. But just as she stood up, the doorbell rang, making everyone in the room turn their gazes to the door.

_**DING DONG! DING DONG!**_

"Should we open it?" Yai was the first to speak up. She swallowed nervously as she stood up, but Tory got up as well.

"I'll do it. It is my house after all." Tory went to the door and looked through the peephole. What he saw there shocked him completely, "Mr. Match? Maddy? DAD?!"

The group came piling into the door as soon as Tory opened it, his father being the last one in. He held his hand out for a handshake, which the preteen immediately ignored, but groaned as his dad enveloped him in a bear hug.

"We saw what was happening on the news." Maddy told the group, filing her nails as she sat down on the couch. Yai watched her with disdain and rolled her eyes, but Maddy ignored her and went on anyway, "We came to help."

"I couldn't just let my lovely wife sit at home anxious and worried all alone! I need to be here to hug her and comfort her in her time of need! I bet she'll cry and then I can-!" Tory's dad made kissing and hugging motions in the air, wiggling his backside.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadddd~!" Tory knocked his fingers against the back of his father's head, glaring at him severely, "No one wants to hear that!"

Everyone in the living room laughed at the antics of the father and son. It felt good to get away from the demanding stress, even for just a moment.

But all good things must come to an end and slowly, the big group got serious.

"Alright everyone, time to get Lan, Maylu and Chisao back!" Natalie cried, as she jumped up off the couch.

"YEAH!" The group cheered, pumping their fist in the air.

**With Lan and Maylu**

"So, what if we slam into it over and over again?"

"Lan, that's definitely not going to work!"

"Well, it's worth a try!"

"LAN, YOU IDIOT, DON'T YOU DARE!"

Lan eyes widened as he backed away quickly from his throughly enraged girlfriend. They had been trying to figure out ways to escape for the past two hours and all they could hear outside were the sounds of a helicopter or something.

At first they thought it was getting closer to them, but soon it just flew over the house. The stairs had creaked for a few moments; their captor was checking to make sure they were still there, before leaving the basement.

"Geez, I wish those guys would hurry up." Lan sighed, once he was a good five feet away from the ticked of Maylu.

"Well, I'm sure they're on their way after all. They wouldn't just leave us to rot, ya know."

"Yeah, but how will they know to look down here?"

"They won't, but we can just scream a lot when we hear something other than Fatty's footsteps."

"Maylu! That wasn't nice!" Lan was shocked; he'd never heard Maylu bad-mouth anyone. Ever.

Maylu rolled her eyes, completely annoyed, "I stopped caring when he hit me over the head."

"I've been wondering what he hit us with."

"A paper weight," Chisao interjected, not wanting to be left out of the conversation.

"A what?! He could've killed us!" Lan cried, touching his head once again. He immediately stopped as he felt the sticky blood that was starting to cake up.

"Sorry Lan, but I think that was the point," Maylu said dryly.

"Well yeah but-" Lan started to say, but was cut off with a loud knock that shock the whole hose.

_**BOOM BOOM BOOM!**_

"Whoa! What was that?!"

"Someone's knocking with a stick or something," Maylu whispered, holding her finger to her lips.

**With Tory and Natalie**

"They're engaging the enemy," Natalie whispered to everyone in the car. She had a headset around the left side of her face, and she could hear everything the SWAT members were saying to each other.

"You think he'll panic and try to hurt Lan and them."

"We won't give him time to try it," Yai stated boldly, while pushing the limo door open. She got out the car promptly with Chaud following behind her, then Tory, Natalie, Maddy and Mr. Match. They rounded the corner of the house while the lone SWAT member knocked on the front door, trying to stay out of Mr. Oyama's peripheral in case he did answer the door.

And of course, the idiot did.

"Who is it?!" The crazed man yelled from the door, not bothering to open it an inch.

"It's the police!"

Yai slapped her hand against her forehead, "Why DO the cops do that? Seriously? I'd say delivery man and bust in their with weapons drawn."

"You and I both, I mean, come on, there's no reason for them to be that stupid." Natalie added, giggling behind her hand.

Soon, the group was near the tiny window that led into the basement. A man was standing next to the window, looking from left to right nervously and Mr. Match drew his flame thrower, ready for any attack.

"What the heck are you gonna do with that thing!? You can't kill him!" Maddy cried, trying to pull the gun away from her boyfriend.

"What? A few third degree burns won't hurt!" Match cried, laughing manically.

"Oh my. You made it. Hello Yai, Chaud. I do have to thank you for paying my bail. It means a lot to me." It was Mr. Ayako Ruchiki!

"Hey Mr. A. How's life out of the slammer?" Yai asked, grinning from ear to ear. She patted the man's hand warmly, while Chaud gave him an approving nod.

"Who's he?" Natalie asked, glancing at the man curiously. She looked around him as the man bowed politely the smile immediately giving him away.

"HOLY CRAP, THAT'S CHISAO'S DAD!"

**With Lan and Maylu**

"Did you hear that?" Maylu looked behind them, towards the single window in the basement.

"Yeah, it sounded like Natalie...You don't think."

"I don't know, but we have to let them know we're down here. Yell you guys, scream!" Maylu cried, starting to clap and stomp.

Soon the three captives began yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs. They hoped they would be heard by the others outside.

**Outside**

And they were. The entire group grew silent as they heard muted cries and noises from the group in the basement, making their guess correct.

"Move outta my way!" Yai cried, using a window punch to shatter the window blocking her path. Soon Yai hopped down into the basement, followed by Natalie, Chaud and Tory. Maddy was on her way down, when her hair got stuck on the splintered edges.

"AHHHHHHHHH!!"

"Maddy, shhhhhh!" Match said softly, while pulling the caught pieces out.

"Shut up, you old hag!" Yai whispered back fiercely.

"Geez, get us caught, why don't you?" Natalie stated, dusting herself off.

"You should just let it down, Ms. Maddy," Ayako added, leaning down next to Mr. Match.

"Guys?" Maylu pushed her face up against a crevice in one of the poles, hoping she was hearing correctly.

"Hiya."

"Hiya's right. Did you REALLY think SWAT would bust in here just yet?" Mr. Oyama taunted as he made his way down the stairs. Chaud moved in front of Yai in an instant and Natalie shrunk back behind Tory before he had time to move in front of her.

_**BOOM!**_

"Nope, but I am!" Mr. Match kicked the entire window frame from the wall, making a brand new hole. Maddy had let her hair down to completely make her way through the window before and was standing next to her man with pink hair shining.

Match lit the torch on his flamethrower and dares Oyama to take another step.

"How do we get them out of here?"

"Well, you don't. Those poles are wielded to the ground." The group looked at the the unusual flag prison and noticed that his words were true.

As if that weren't enough, Chisao spoke up from inside the flag prison, "Yeah, I watched him finish it off."

"The only way to get them out-"

"Is to cut them out!" Ayako jumped down through the hole now, holding onto the sheath of the blade at his side, "Duck kids!"

"Who the heck carries swords nowadays?" Maylu murmured as she fell to her knees and covered her head. There was a splitting sound and the metallic ring of metal against metal before, POP!

The entire top of the flagpoles slide down to the floor. With several more slashes and swipes, Ayako reduced the pile to several short poles, just tall enough for the teens to jump up and climb over. Lan and Maylu lifted Chisao up and over together, before they each got out.

"It's like climbing a tree!" Lan cried gleefully as he hopped over.

"Don't look!" Maylu held her skirt down as she jumped into Lan's awaiting arms.

"Now let us through!" Yai yelled, taking a step closer to the big man that looked so very much like Dex.

"Like hell!" Oyama screamed back, raising his gun and pointing it in her face.

"Ooh? So you like it hot huh? Well-"

"It's about to get a heck of a lot hotter! NOW!" Natalie grabbed Tory's arm an pulled him back as several red lights lit up like beacons all over Mr. Oyama's body. SWAT members filed into the room, one after another, while about five laid on their stomachs in a sniper position by what used to be the window.

"You're surrounded, Mr. Oyama." Chaud said, a smirk crossing his face.

"Yeah, give it up!" Yai cried, pointing at the big man.

"No! I won't! I won't!" Oyama's hands were shaking as he aimed the gun into the group, hoping to hit somebody, anybody before he too went down.

**BANG!**

The gun shot went off and Natalie was shoved to the ground. She bumped her head on the concrete floor as she went down, and even though she tried to make out who had gotten shot, the sound of a male groan was all that filled her ears.

Soon, more shots were fired, and Oyama crumbled to the ground. He was muttering words to himself as he lay in a pool of his own blood, while tears poured from his eyes.

"All I did was love her...She was the only one I ever loved...My dear...sweet...sis...ter."

End Chapter 17


	18. Love Is Never Normal!

Being In Love Is Never Easy!

By: Sailorjj07

18. Love Is Never Normal!

A/n: Sup guys? This is the last chapter! YAY! We've come so far! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED!!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**Actions**

(Me!)

Natalie dropped the purple mums down on Dex's grave before she moved onto the two remaining black caskets. Her black gloved hands grasped Tory's arm tighter as she got closer, not in sadness, but in an odd mixture of relief and weariness.

Purple gems glanced briefly into dark gray clouds as Tory lead Natalie among the dead. Her small heels clicked softly upon the stone walkway as they finally joined Chaud, Yai, Lan and Maylu. With the faintest of nods, Tory heaved a sigh. At least this funeral wasn't for a close friend.

It appeared to any passerby that this was just any other funeral; that the six tweens lined up among the adults were members of the family. But the honest truth was that none of them actually knew the two men well.

No, this particular group only knew what the two had done in their lives and how it had affected them each personally.

_**Flashback**_

"HIS UNCLE?!"

The entire group felt rooted to the very couch they sat on. Chaud looked at Yai, who looked at Lan, who looked at Maylu, who looked at Tory, who looked at...Chisao.

"That was your uncle?!" Natalie cried, in shock. She had just seen the man with Chisao's mother!

"Well, I didn't notice it until he said that he was in love with his 'dear sister'. Then I noticed it; his birthmark was on the wrong side of his face. It was Uncle, not Big Brother's dad." Chisao said, scratching his head nervously. He hadn't meant to get it wrong...they were identical twins anyway!

"So where's the REAL Mr. Oyama?" Lan asked, turning to face Mrs. Oyama. She sighed wearily, wiping at her eye with a handkerchief.

"Well, if we knew that, we probably wouldn't have been fooled by his twisted brother-in-law." Ayako replied, grasping Mrs. Oyama's hand tighter. She gave him a watery smile and leaned her head on his shoulder, trying not to cry.

After all, her husband was still missing.

"Well, Mrs. Oyama when was the last time you saw him?" The on-hand police officer asked. He had been quiet, to let the group talk in peace, but her answer would definitely help with the search.

"H-he told me that he was going away on b-business."

"Did he say where?"

"Well no. And I usually don't ask. I have no right...I was unfaithful."

Ayako shook his head and patted Mrs. Oyama's back, "No honey, you weren't unfaithful. I was just very stubborn. You're perfect. Even if that lunkhead can't realize it."

"Oh Ayako..."

"Ugh, can you two cut it out? You're married to MR. Oyama remember?" Natalie told the woman bluntly, before Tory elbowed her slightly in the ribs. Both adults looked at her and nodded, remembering themselves. It was clear they still loved each other, though.

"The police just started searching the other Mr. Oyama's apartment. From what I heard, it wasn't a pretty thing."

**KNOCK KNOCK!**

Chisao nodded at his mom, and stood up, opening the front door, "Yes officer, how can I help you?"

"Since you kids are so involved with the case, we were wondering if the group of you can come identify some of the things we've found at the decease's house."

"Us too?" Ayako questioned, as Match heaved a sigh from the wall. Maddy, who was sitting in front of him in a chair, sighed as well. They really needed to get back to the shop.

"We'll stay outta this one. Have fun, kiddies." Maddy got up and Match followed her, as both waved over their shoulders and walked out the front door.

The group simply watched them go.

"Alright then, we'll follow you in my limo," Yai told the officer, as she too got up.

**At the OTHER Mr. Oyama's Apartment**

"Oh. My. God."

"Yeah, I think that's what I want to say too."

"Are you kidding me? What kind of men are in your family?!"

"I was about to say that! Wow, we really do think alike, Lan!"

"Maylu, focus on the subject at hand please? ....Gosh, you Oyamas are crazy."

Everyone fought the urge to throw up as they stepped foot into the twin's apartment. Pictures of Mrs. Oyama were everywhere. On the door, taped to mirrors and windows, blown up into posters; everywhere.

Natalie sighed, "Man, you people are insane."

"And this is why you should've married me, Mika." Ayako shook his head at Mrs. Oyama, as if she knew that her brother-in-law was this crazy.

"He was obsessed with you! How did you not notice?" Natalie questioned, shaking her head as well.

"I thought he was just being brotherly!" Mika Oyama cried, in her own defense.

"I just can't believe someone would go this far..." Tory muttered as he stepped over a few crushed pictures. Apparently, Mr. Oyama had hit his final straw and took it out on his "sister-in-law" mural. There were candles lit all around the small apartment, but surprisingly none of the pictures had caught on fire.

"Nah, me neither. I mean, Maylu, I love you, but-"

"Lan, I'd be really scared if you had this many pictures of me all over the place."

"Well, I don't."

"That's good. Really, really good."

"Yes, but this doesn't help us find my husband!" Mika was getting close to hysterics since he wasn't here.

But as a cop walked into the apartment and directly for Mika, she knew, by the look on his face, that he had her answer.

"Mrs. Oyama...you're husband-...he's dead. We have reason to believe that his brother murdered him."

"NO! NOT HIM TOO! WHY DID I EVER MARRY INTO THIS FAMILY?! WHY?! CAN'T THEY JUST BE NORMAL!"

Another knock at the door brought in a detective, "Actually, his brother didn't kill him. He killed himself." The detective smacked the officer in the head, "Didn't I tell you not to say anything until we knew the complete details? Geez, find a body and the kid pegs whoever close with murder."

"W-Wait...HE WHAT?!"

"Ma'am, you're husband killed himself. Noose and everything. The body had fallen, so we didn't see the noose until later. But we have reason to believe that his brother had locked him up and told him that suicide was the only choice."

"Oh my God....Oh my God...T-This isn't happening! Ayako, why did you let me leave? Why didn't I just stay with you! OH MY GOD!" Mika broke into heart wrenching sobs, flinging herself into Ayako's arms.

No one else knew what to do.

"Kids, I think it's time you all head home. Don't you guys have school tomorrow or something?" The detective asked the group of tweens who were just standing around.

"Yes, actually, we do...Come on, guys. Chisao, can you give us a call if anything comes up? Thanks."

Everyone gave Mika a pat on the shoulder as they left and wished the officers good luck in their investigation before heading home.

Yes, today was a very sobering day.

_**End Flashback**_

Natalie couldn't say she was exceedingly upset. As Yai's limo finally pulled up to take them all home, all she could do was lean onto Tory's shoulder and sigh.

Maylu, on the other hand, could only feel relief. All the Dentech family had ever done was cause her and her friend's issues. She didn't want to say that she hated the Oyama's; no, that wasn't exactly how she felt either.

"Are you guys okay?" Yai asked, looking between the four that sat around her. She couldn't help but cling to Chaud at a time like this, he was much less emotional than she was.

"We will be, I'm sure," Tory said, receiving nods from the remaining three. They all understood and shared his sentiments.

"I don't see how you guys can handle all of that. From one family! I mean, you'd think Dex had gotten his kicks out of terrorizing Maylu and Lan. Then Tory and Natalie go through all of this junk! Who's next? Chaud and me? I for one, am pretty happy that there aren't anymore Oyama's to ruin our lives," Yai crossed her arms firmly as she spoke her mind, getting a very appalled look from Maylu.

"Yai! You can't speak ill of the dead like that!"

"How am I speaking ill of the dead? I'm just saying what you guys are thinking out loud!" Yai cried loudly, pouting at Maylu's scolding.

"Well, I know...but, that's not really fair, is it? They aren't here to defend themselves."

"And they can't! They did all of those evil things to you guys because they were jealous. They wouldn't be able to defend themselves in a court of law if they were alive either!"

Natalie tried not to giggle, but she just couldn't help it, "I know it's not right, but she has a point. They really couldn't do that."

"Oh no, not you too, Natalie. Don't encourage her!" Maylu shook her head at both of them, hoping they felt at least a little bit sorry for their words.

"Oh come on, Maylu. Cheer up! You can be with Lan for as long as you want to now! There's no one in the way! Who wouldn't be happy about that?"

"But Yai, that's still not-!"

**RING! RING!**

Chaud held up his hand to silence to the two as his cell rang. Both girls quieted their argument, but just kept going back and forth. Tory shook his head as he listened to the two talk and Natalie put in her two cents every now and again.

Lan put his arm around Maylu happily and grinned from ear to ear at no one in particular. Even though tragedy had struck them twice, it seemed that it wouldn't take long before everything went back to normal.

Well, as normal as love allows life to be, anyway.

End Chapter 18

THE END!!

A/n: THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS! THAT'S THE END! The sequel to this will probably begin in about a month or two, so be on the lookout! In the meantime, check out my other fics. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! ^_____________^


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